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Sylvania teen runs booming button business There’s a Badge for That

By
Toledo Free Press
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Southview High School student Claire Coder operates a small business, There's a Badge for That. Photo courtesy Claire Coder.

When she’s not doing homework for honors classes or participating in extracurricular activities at South View High School, 17 year old Clair Coder is running a successful nationwide business called “There’s a Badge for That.” As a young business owner, Coder has a very unique high school experience. She attributes her success to the Three P’s: “Passion, Poise, and Professionalism.”

“I love what I do, and I do what I love. It’s what my mom always instilled in me,” said Coder. “I always listening to my customers and looking for new ways to meet their needs. I want my customers to have exactly what they want.”

Coder’s entrepreneurial adventure began when her grandmother gave her a badge maker for Christmas two years ago. Coder created several artistic designs, and after receiving many positive reviews from friends and family, she decided to use the gift as a starting point for something even bigger. She began cold-calling businesses throughout town, looking for someone to carry her product. Although she was told no during the first few calls, she gave a successful presentation to Maryanne Strayer at Schramm’s Flowers and Gifts and found her first distributor.

“Her presentation, her enthusiasm, the way she presented herself during the call…she just won us over right away,” said Strayer.

“It’s great to see my product out and about,” said Coder. “I’ve had a lot of large company orders. I go to the Toledo Museum of Art and they’re all wearing my badges, and it’s like ‘wow, I made that!’ That’s very rewarding for me.”

Coder’s mantra is “The possibilities are endless,” and she’s constantly looking for new ways to deliver her product to customers. Recently she began teaching 1-2 hour workshops where groups create their own designs to take home. Attendees have included Girl Scout troupes and Red Hat Ladies.

“This summer I’m hoping to launch something on my website where people can go online and design their own badges,” said Coder.

Coder’s business has provided paying jobs for 5 friends, who help the business grow by reaching out to new markets. Through her online store, BadgeThat, on etsy.com, Coder is able to sell nationwide.

“I’d say it’s tough to balance, but there comes a point where you find this great equilibrium,” said Coder. “After school I usually attend a business meeting, then I fill some button orders, meet with my distributors, and hopefully get to go for a run to ease my stress. And, of course, I do homework. Sometimes I even go to school in business attire.”

Like-minded friends have played a large part in Coder’s success. She shares tips with other young entrepreneurs and looks for ways to implement their advice.

“When you have a network of people you can always count on, you encourage each other and help each other strive toward your dreams,” said Coder. “The possibilities are endless.”

For more information on Coder’s badges, or to preview the 200+ designs ranging from inspirational to humorous, visit BadgeThat on etsy.com.

Culbreath: Mid-major brotherhood

By
Matt Culbreath
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It’s simultaneously the curse and the blessing of rooting for mid-major teams in college basketball.

Once the conference tournaments end and the postseason tournaments begin, you’re not very likely to see your team for the rest of the year. Unlike those in  the big conferences that could end up seeing each other later down the line, there are simply not the numbers for it to happen with the mid-majors.

For the Mid-American Conference (MAC) this year, it was one team in the NCAA Tournament, one team in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and three in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournamenr (CIT).

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That means you’re able to — hell, encouraged to — root for these other MAC teams in an effort to bring honor to the conference. Just look at the Atlantic 10: six berths in the NCAA Tournament, because their teams keep showing up.

So while the University of Toledo men are already out of the postseason after their March 19 loss against Southern Miss, I’ll still pull for the other teams from the MAC to succeed. A stronger conference is a good conference.

That being said, we need to discuss what happened in Ypsilanti on March 18.

Eastern Michigan (yes, the team that handed Toledo the loss that likely kept them out of contention for an at-large tournament berth) broke open the piggy bank to host a first-round game of the CIT.

Pretty cool: The Eagles had a great season, put together a decent run to the semis of the MAC Tournament (losing to eventual champ Western Michigan) and finished the season with 21 wins. For EMU to go to any tournament is an accomplishment; Lord knows their athletic programs have struggled.

Norfolk State came into the Convocation Center — and walked out with a 58-54 loss wrapped around their neck. EMU netted its 22nd win — which ties its record for most in a season since the 1990s — and advances to the next round of the tourney.

The bad news was that barely anybody saw it. The announced attendance was 373. Ouch.

You know when you suspect there’s a bad situation happening somewhere (either at work or in someone’s home)and you don’t say anything — until there’s that one moment of clarity where something has to be said in order to address the issue? That moment of clarity was Tuesday night.

We all know Eastern Michigan is low in the pecking order up in the mitten. If the University of Michigan considers Michigan State its “little brother,” that makes Western and Central Michigan distant cousins that come in for Thanksgiving and EMU some horror story from an episode of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.” The stepchild kept under the stairs and fed used coffee grounds. Even Lake Superior State University gets more respect — like the cool uncle who comes around and gives you $300 to spend on clothes and tells you about the time he got stoned with Jefferson Starship at a county fair.

(Before you ask: No, this is not my uncle. My uncle was into woodworking. He made some bizarre, not-safe-for-work things every now and then, but he was a good guy.)

But even with all that laid out on the table, 373 fans at a postseason game is a slap across the face to the institution — and the team slapped back. Senior Glenn Bryant took to Twitter to call out the EMU student body: “We FORSURE got the top 5 worst support in the NCAA, it’s almost 30,000 students go to this school smh, y’all at ALL the parties tho”

(“Spelled in context,” I believe is what the newspaper editors call that.)

Grammar aside, he’s not wrong. The Convo holds 8,800 people, but averaged 900 this year. This for a team that had one of its most successful seasons of the decade! And yes, many of the kids at EMU are there because they couldn’t get into Michigan, but still wanted access to Ann Arbor. But they have got to show some pride in the institution they are paying money to attend. (Alumni, you’re not off the hook either. The name change happened in 1991. Get over it.)

I have a plan, though. Much like a child doesn’t want to play in a sprinkler until he sees other kids doing it, I think us fans of the other schools need to start coaxing the EMU students and alumni to the arena.

We’ll do it by engaging their fight mechanism. Start talking crap about the Eagles. Not in a mean-spirited way, but in a method designed to show that you’re inviting them to fight back. Get them to stand up for their school. Drag the pride out of them. I’m picturing a grand finale march down the streets of Ypsilanti comprised of fans of all of the other MAC schools, culminating in a moving speech where someone asks the Eagles faithful to come to games so they can argue about sports like real fans!

It’s a silly idea, sure. But I like having the Eagles around. I like their water tower. It looks like some of the things my uncle used to carve out of wood.

“Shaggy” Matt Culbreath is sports director at 1370 WSPD.

iPads help local school cope with snow days

By
Danielle Stanton
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A Toledo School for the Arts student works on a science assignment on an iPad. Toledo Free Press Photo by Kim Sanchez

Nick Mariano “lives and dies” by his iPad. He got his first one five years ago and won’t be seen at meetings, in conferences or at the front office without it.

As principal of Toledo School for the Arts (TSA), he dreamed of bringing the technology to students.

Last March, Mariano got his wish. After working with board members and diverting textbook funds, he equipped every student and teacher with an Apple iPad.

The device can be found in the hands of students everywhere in the charter school, from hallways and classrooms to studios where dancers review their choreographed moves.

The iPads initially cut down on paperwork and put information at students’ fingertips, but this winter, they did what teachers and Mariano could not have predicted: They allowed students and teachers to stay connected during subzero temperatures and school cancellations caused by the level three snow emergencies.

“With this being one of the harshest winters on record that caused most schools a loss of valuable teaching time, it was the optimal year to bring new technology into the classroom,” Mariano said. “Despite the snow, TSA was able to keep the educational process moving forward even though students were not in the building.”

Toledo School for the Arts students Alex Santoro, left, and Chase Henry use their iPads in class. Toledo Free Press Photo by Kim Sanchez

During the polar vortex in January, students logged onto the school’s website to watch videos and find assignments. They posted homework, held discussions and created videos.

The iPads allowed the school to make up two snow days, and their success with students was evident, Mariano said.

“The sophomore class was given a project and 95 percent of the students completed it online and submitted it on time while home on a snow day,” he said.

The TSA board of directors decided to invest $117,000 a year for three years to lease 700 iPads as part of their plan to transition the school away from textbooks to iPads for all of its students, board member Rob Koenig said in an email.

The iPads were paid for by redirecting the school’s annual $100,000 textbook budget, Koenig said.

The iPad initiative “revolutionized” the school’s curriculum, he said, and readied students for state achievement tests which will soon be administered by computer or iPad only.

“The iPad deployment went extremely well and the new technology positively impacted the learning environment at TSA beginning on the first day of school,” Koenig said. “The faculty and students embraced this change quickly and the effect has been more powerful than we could have hoped.”

Mariano said the iPads have been so successful that students no longer use the school’s computer labs.

On March 17, two computer labs were devoid of students who were instead gazing into their iPads from their classroom desk or carting the device between classes.

Students said the device cuts back on what they have to carry and overall creates an easier learning experience.

“[The iPad] is definitely a great tool and learning experience for me,” said senior Tyler Fowler, who was a first-time iPad user. “We have to do [homework] anyway, the iPad made it a little more bearable.”

The iPads are being used for simple tasks such as “read the next chapter” as well as more difficult assignments like creating videos, Fowler said. During a snow day, he used it to write a paper after watching a documentary on slavery.

“I really like [the iPad]. It keeps me organized,” said sophomore Drew Longmore, who got her first iPad for Christmas a couple of years ago. “I am the biggest paper-loser ever.”

Longmore used the iPad to videotape her mother modeling clothes as Longmore voiced-over the names of the clothes in Spanish.

“I’m tech-savvy so I was really happy [to get an iPad],” said junior Roan Martin.

“I love typing rather than writing and all resources are in the same place.”

Martin said the school is teaching responsible use of the iPad. Administrators restrict email use and students are not allowed to download any apps.

“For the most part, students are very responsible,” Mariano said.

Mariano will be part of a group that will speak May 6 at Bowling Green State University on how to continue lessons during calamity days. The iPads as a learning tool will be a major part of that discussion, he said.

Students at Maumee Valley Country Day School, a private school in South Toledo, also use iPads as part of their curriculum, said teacher Lisa Behnfeldt.

The school purchased the devices two years ago and has put them in the hands of learners as young as 2 ½ years old up to 12th-graders, Behnfeldt said, who teaches first and second grades.

Every student in the middle school has their own device they can take home with them and other students use the iPad during the school day.

“It’s been two years so initially it was using the apps more as a tutoring usage — more as support — but now that we’ve had a couple years under our belt we’re using it more as a creative tool. It’s finding apps, creating books or creating math solutions,” Behnfeldt said.

Faculty had training on different ways to use the iPad in the classroom, she said, and the devices are stored and available within 10 feet of every instructor.

“[The iPads] are so user friendly for kids,” Behnfeldt said. “They figure out how to use them.”

Long way home: Michigan native Dave Coulier to bring comedy to Fat Fish Blue

By
Jeff McGinnis
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Dave Coulier got his comedy start cracking jokes to his hockey teammates in St. Clair Shores, Mich. Photo courtesy Lund Live

Dave Coulier loves playing the Midwest.

As the sitcom and voiceover star prepares to return to Toledo for a gig at the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue on March 21, he noted in an interview with Toledo Free Press that he feels a natural rapport with fans from the Glass City and nearby areas.

“I’m from Michigan, and so I know that audience really well. I think they know my style of humor pretty well, so I think we have a pretty good synergy between us,” Coulier said.

A native of St. Clair Shores, the 54-year-old Coulier rose to national prominence through his role as Joey on the long-running ABC sitcom “Full House” and as host of the variety show “America’s Funniest People” in the early 1990s. But stand-up is where he started and stand-up is still where his passion lies all these years later.

“If you can compare stand-up to being an actor, I get to write the script,” Coulier said. “Whereas being an actor, I’m delivering somebody else’s jokes. And you’re talking directly to the fourth wall when you’re a stand-up, and in acting you can’t do that. You have to stay within the guidelines of the scene; you keep the information moving within the story.

“With stand-up, you can come off the rails, you can veer left, you can veer right, you can back up, you can go to somebody in the audience, if something happened spontaneously, you can focus on that. So there’s a lot of different directions that you have as a stand-up that you don’t just have as an actor.”

Coulier first had an inkling that he’d be interested in comedy at a young age, he said.

“I had been doing stand-up in high school, and I was always the funny guy in the locker room growing up, playing hockey. You know, you have a built-in audience of 20 guys, sitting around putting their equipment on, so I would tell jokes.  It was a great captive audience.

“It’s really interesting because — I don’t want to get too heady here — but where my psychological headspace was, when I was first thinking that I was funny, to now? It’s two completely different thought spaces,” Coulier said. “When I was first starting out, I had confidence just because I didn’t know any better. I just thought, ‘Hey, I’m funny! Everybody thinks I’m funny, so I’m just going to get on stage and be funny!’ So there was a certain naiveté that I had — call it confidence or whatever it was — I was very sure of myself, just because I’d been goofing around with people my entire life.”

Of course, anyone who has watched Coulier perform knows his stock and trade is his amazing talent for mimicry and impersonation — his stable of imitations reads like a who’s-who of modern pop culture history. How early in his stand-up experience did the voices become his M.O.?

“That was my only M.O.,” Coulier said with a laugh. “It was what set me apart from other comedians, the ability to be able to do voices and do sound effects with my mouth and be musical.

“With my style, I’ve always thought of myself as a glorified birthday clown. And in my head, that’s my operating system. I’m like, OK, I’m not up there to be heady, I’m not up there to be politically savvy, I’m not up there to lampoon current events. My job is to go up there and make people forget that maybe they lost their job or that times are really tough. And just go up, let’s have a lot of laughs and have fun for an hour.”

And as he continues to travel the country bringing that sense of fun to audiences, he noted how far he has come — from making a few guys laugh in the locker room to accomplishing more than his wildest dreams could have foreseen.

“I also didn’t know what the odds were stacked against me. I never thought about that, I never thought, ‘Gee, no one goes from St. Clair Shores, Mich., goes out and gets on a sitcom.’ I never thought about that. That was never in my thought process. My thought process was, ‘Just go and enjoy the heck out of this, the further you get is all gravy.’

“And everything I wished for came true. I wanted to do ‘The Tonight Show’ with Johnny Carson. I wanted to work with Mel Blanc and do cartoon voices. I wanted to work with Jim Henson. I wanted to host a series. I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be in movies, I wanted to star in a sitcom. I wanted to do all of these different things, and so I wished for the sky. And so, my wish list came true. I’ve just been so doggone lucky that everything came true. And so then, I reached a point that, I have to build a whole new wish list.”

Coulier will play the Funny Bone at Fat Fish Blue from March 21-23 at Levis Commons in Perrysburg. For more information, contact Fat Fish Blue at (419) 931-3474.

Lutherans open Thrivent to all Christians

By
David Yonke
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For the first time in its long history, Thrivent Financial is not just for Lutherans. The 111-yearold financial services firm began taking applications this month from all Christians.

“We feel like we’re being called to serve more people,” said Dick Moeller, chairman of the board.

The change from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans to just Thrivent Financial was not a simple response to declining membership in the Lutheran church, Moeller said, although that factor was discussed during the lengthy transition talks.

It’s more about having a longterm strategy to share the company’s Christian business principles with more people, he said.

“I believe we’ll look back 50 years from now and believe that that was the single most important thing in this decade for Thrivent in terms of the changes that have come about,” Moeller said. “It will open many, many new doors for us in terms of our ability to expand and help our members and communities.”

The Minneapolis-based Fortune 500 company has provided more than $17 billion to members in its history and will now be able to broaden such efforts, CEO Brad Hewitt told the 1,600 members at the March 13 regional meeting at the Henry Ford Museum.

Moeller said many members had expressed wanting their relatives who were Christians but notLutherans to be able to benefit from Thrivent’s insurance policies and financial services.

The company will use the Apostles’ Creed — a statement of Christian belief dating back to the 4th century — as the determining factor in whether a person is eligible to join Thrivent.

Sears preps for re-election run marked by health care discussion

By
Bailey G. Dick
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Barbara Sears will run for her fourth term as representative of Ohio District 45. The election is May 6. Photo courtesy Barbara Sears.

State Representative Barbara Sears is confident going into what could be her final election.

“I’ll work, and I’ll win,” Sears said of the challenges facing her in the coming months.

Sears is facing Tea Party activist Scott Allegrini in a May 6 primary election for Ohio House District 47, which includes many of Toledo’s north and west suburbs, as well as almost all of Fulton County.

Sears was first appointed to the position in 2008 to replace Mark Wagoner, who was appointed to state senate. She is currently serving her third term in office. She is the Majority Floor Leader.

Sears got her start in politics serving on Sylvania City Council alongside her father. She was also the co-owner of Noble and Sears, an employee benefits and financial planning firm. She currently works as the senior vice president of employee benefits at Roemer Insurance.

Given her background in insurance, Sears has spearheaded legislative projects concerning healthcare on the state floor. She was assigned to committees dealing with insurance, health and aging, and health and human services.

“I have, for the speaker, quarterbacked pretty much all things having to do with health insurance, workers compensation, and those issues,” Sears said. “Probably 80-90 percent of what I do down there is health-related, just because somebody’s got to take control over that area.”

Sears will need to draw upon her knowledge of healthcare during her upcoming election, as one of the hot-button issues of her race will be the topic she knows best.

As a Republican, Sears has drawn some criticism for her support of Medicaid expansion in Ohio, in accordance with the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare. One of her harshest critics has been Allegrini.

“If you expect your representative to fight to keep Obamacare and its mandates out of Ohio, than you should vote for me.  If you support Obamacare and expanding the reach federal and state government into your healthcare, then you should vote for Barb Sears,” Allegrini said. “Healthcare is the most basic of personal liberties, and when she is so wrong on such a key issue, how many other issues will she be wrong on?  With the federal government so wildly out of control, the next few years will be more important than ever before, as the state governments may need to make stand against the overreach of those in [Washington] D.C.  We will need elected officials in Ohio that can see the big picture and know the importance of protecting Ohioans, and I will do that.”

Sears said she doesn’t agree with how her fellow conservatives are reacting to her position on Medicaid reform.

“The interesting thing is that prior to the Medicaid issue coming up, the conservative groups were inviting me into their functions and wanting to hear from me. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called too conservative for the district I serve,” Sears said.

“From a fiscal standpoint, from a family values standpoint, and from a human capital standpoint, the Medicaid expansion makes sense. I get the fact that the expansion came with the Affordable Care Act,” Sears said. “I was part of the team that said we should not do a state exchange, and I think the feds are 100 percent wrong for doing what they did with the Affordable Care Act.”

Sears pointed to cost-cutting by reducing what she called “silos” of care in state-run institutions and incentivizing families to become employed and remain intact.

“Expanding Medicaid is just the right thing to do. Businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, Right to Life groups, all these groups are supportive of it for either the financial reason, the human capital reason, or quite frankly, the moral reason,” Sears said.

Sears said she believes she will win the May primary, and believes she has the support of the majority of her party.

“I don’t think the Republican Party thinks I’m not conservative enough. I think a fraction of the party thinks that. Scott’s a fine guy. He helped me campaign. He said he agrees with me 99 percent of the time, but that 99 percent isn’t enough,” Sears said. “I think that mainstream Republicans agree with me.”

Aside from the healthcare issues surrounding the campaign, Sears is looking forward to enjoying her remaining time in office.

“I love this. This is the most enjoyable thing in life for me. I learn about new things I’ve never been exposed to,” Sears said. “We live in a very diverse state. On any given day, I can start with health care reform and can end up talking about agriculture or scrap metal issues, and that’s all before lunch.”

Hays: The trap of holding on

By
Pam Hays
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I heard a story recently about the difficulty of catching Ring-Tailed Monkeys in Africa that are caught for zoos around the world.  They don’t fall prey to more conventional methods of trappings, so a more creative approach was needed. Right about now, you are thinking that you have come across an article from National Geographic!  You haven’t!  Hang in there with me for a minute and I will segue from monkeys in Africa to traumatic brain injury!

The Zulus on the continent of Africa had to do two very important things before they could even begin to figure out how to trap a Ring-Tailed Monkey.  They had to learn about them and they had to develop a great understanding of them.  The Zulus found through their observations, that the Ring-Tailed Monkey just LOVED a certain melon that was native to the African Continent. The monkeys would spend much time finding these melons and then gnawing at the melon’s outer rind to find their way to, not the pulp, but the seeds!  They would dig in with their hands and grasp the seeds and devour them for hours on end, going from melon to melon. 

So, the Zulus figured out that the melon was what the monkey sought more than anything.  The melon became the trap.  But it wasn’t enough to just put them out, the monkey would run away and go find a different melon.  What the trappers did that worked was to cut a small hole in the top of the melons, the monkey would then come to the melon, reach in for the seeds and grab them.  But, how was that a trap you might be asking?  The monkey loved the seeds so much that they refused to let go of the seeds.  Their balled up fists could not fit through the hole to release them from these large melons.  They would scream and fight to get the melon off of their hand, but to no avail.  It was more important to hold onto the seeds and remain trapped, than to gently open their fists, let the seeds go and find freedom. 

Maybe there is a fear that another melon might not come along, or maybe it is because no one ever taught a monkey how to let go if trapped in a melon.  Maybe you can see now where this story fits in with the life of someone who has a traumatic brain injury.

At some point many survivors reach a point in their rehabilitation where they have to make some tough decisions.   Clinging to the “seeds” in their lives after TBI  only keeps them stuck in the “melon” of negative thinking like “I used to be able to do that”. “If I try harder I will be like I used to be.” “No one will ever love me like this”. “Is my life always going to be like this?” “Is life worth living if I can’t be like I was before?” This self-talk prevents survivors from finding the freedom to explore a new life; a life that now includes traumatic brain injury.

At The Arms Forces we see our veterans traps and we do all we can to ensure that their lives are not stuck and gently help them open themselves up to release the seeds that are holding them back from a life that is free from stigma; free from the bondage of never believing they are “good enough”; free to have a life that includes a degree of comfort, peace, self-esteem, meaningful work, loving relationships and understanding.

I can’t repeat this enough.  The journey for a TBI survivor can be one that goes from “extreme adversity to joyful renewal”! I am reminded of that every time I look at my own life as a severe TBI survivor. Ring-tailed monkeys and TBI…….who would have thought????

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Over 1.7 million civilians have a brain injury each year. Depending on where you get your information, it is reported that 300-500,000 veterans have received a BI since 2000. Brain injury affects more than the other top 5 health issues in our country added together! The World Health Organization predicts it will be the No. 1 health concern in the world by 2020. Protect the head!

Baumhower: Magical, mighty Myles

By
Jeremy Baumhower
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Photo courtesy Tiffany Eckert.

A beautiful thing happened on the way to a Cracker Barrel.

I envision this all beginning like the floating feather in the movie “Forrest Gump.” A $20 bill magically leaves a wallet or a purse and floats around the sky until it decides to land in front of a young child, an 8-year-old boy named Myles Eckert.

Young Myles hit the child’s version of a winning scratcher that brisk Friday morning. There are only a few ways children gain money: birthdays, holidays, crazy aunts and losing teeth. The fact that this wasn’t a special day and he maintained all of his teeth made the discovery of a greenback all the more meaningful.

Myles instantly imagined the various ways this newfound fortune could be spent. For about two minutes, or the time it took his family to walk inside the restaurant, Myles fantasized playing the soon-to-be-purchased LEGO Movie Xbox 360 game.

Myles’ mental shopping spree ended when he noticed a man in uniform eating lunch with his family.

What happened next is now Cracker Barrel lore. Myles asked his mom for a piece of paper and a pencil. She found a small piece of yellow paper and obliged his request. Little did he or anybody else know that the following words he put down on that piece of paper would change so many lives:

“Dear Soldier, My dad was a soldier. He’s in heaven now. I found this $20 in the parking lot when we got here. We like to pay it forward in my family. It’s your lucky day! Thank you for your service, Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.”

As Myles summoned the courage to hand Ohio Air National Guard Lt. Col. Frank Dailey the note with the money inside, the same winds that carried the $20 bill to land at his feet had to shift directions once again.

Everything changed when Myles paid it forward that day. 

Myles’ mom, Tiffany Eckert, had taken him and his sisters, Marlee and Berkley, to the Cracker Barrel that morning to celebrate the upcoming birthday of someone who was clearly there in spirit.

Myles is the son of the late Army Sgt. Andy Eckert, who was killed in Iraq in 2005 when Myles was only 4 weeks old. Andy left behind a wife and two young children. 

Tiffany went from the wife of a soldier to a single mom of two babies in the flash of a roadside bomb. For the past nine years she has raised her children with simple beautiful mantras: Kindness always wins, you get better not bitter and pay it forward.

The world now knows how effective her words and life lessons are.

The beautiful part is how this story went completely viral. Unlike many parents after a child does a good deed, Tiffany did not race home to brag on Facebook about her son’s pay-it-forward moment. It was the opposite: Dailey’s family did.

In a very “Forrest Gump” way, the Facebook post from Dailey’s family got the attention of CBS Evening News reporter and Toledo native Steve Hartman.

Hartman’s “On The Road” segment telling Myles’ story has been shared more than 500,000 times on Facebook and viewed more than 20 million times online. The three-minute-long video touched every heart that watched it and soon after, the emails asking for the Eckerts’address started flooding in to me. 

It was just the week before that I had shared the story of Myles’ 10-year-old sister, Marlee Eckert, and her misery caused by a father-daughter dance at her school. My email address was the only contact people could find while Googling the story.

As my inbox was flooded with people wanting to send a card, some money and or a video game, Myles’ mom was politely asking to not have their address shared. She did not allow Myles to tell this story for them to profit in any way. I respected her decision, but that didn’t stop the emails from coming. I finally asked Tiffany if there was a way to turn these people’s thank yous into something bigger.“Every email I receive wants to give Myles’ money or send a video game,” I told her. “They are not going to stop.” I even offered my help. 

Soon random packages started arriving at the children’s school. It was then Tiffany started a conversation with both Myles and Marlee. During the next couple of hours, both children agreed on the way they wanted to pay it all forward again. Tiffany texted me the words “Snowball Express” and the floating money moved once again.

Snowball Express is a national military children’s charity that hosts a weeklong vacation around the holidays for Gold Star children — the military name for children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. The kids get to be around other children dealing with the same loss and it gives all who attend a sense of comfort. It’s a big family. There is no cost for those who attend; even the flight to Dallas is covered. In recent years, funding for this special retreat has gotten scarce. The young Eckerts saw an opportunity with Myles’ newfound viral fame to pay it forward, having no idea what or who would come next. 

I set up a Crowdtilt page to collect online donations for Snowball Express in the name of Myles and Marlee and within hours the website’s brass recognized the power behind the message and contacted me. They became a vested partner and a great vehicle for Myles’ story to evolve.

We now had an address to send those people wanting to send Myles money.

Within a day of the campaign being launched, Tiffany was flooded with media interview requests. She sent another text to me; this time it contained only one word: “Ellen.”

The Eckerts and Daileys packed up and flew out to Burbank, Calif., on a Tuesday morning to visit the host of the Oscars and the new queen of daytime television, Ellen DeGeneres. Learning of the story and the new campaign for the Snowball Express, Ellen had decided she wanted to help Myles pay it forward. In front of millions of people across the country, she interviewed Myles and Lt. Col. Dailey. If you watched your TV set closely, I swear you could see that $20 dollar float down right onto the set.

It wasn’t $20 — it was $20,000, a LEGO Movie video game, a trip to LEGO Land and, for the Daileys, a six-night vacation to Hawaii. Ellen won that day – and reminded me that my eyes make water on occasion.

While they were in California, the Eckerts learned of a company that also wanted to help. Dallas-based Highland Capital Management was so moved by this story and the beauty of Snowball Express that it offered to match every dollar donated through Memorial Day, up to $1 million.

The $20 floating bill that started this journey at a Cracker Barrel in Maumee and traveled to California and back could end up landing in Dallas as $2 million. Every mile this piece of currency ventured found another floating $20 to join it. 

In retrospect, it seems Myles is the perfect name for Andy’s son. It only took 8 years and 48 weeks to confirm it. 

I learned there are a lot of big hearts and open wallets in this great country we call America. I have also learned the identity of a magical boy from Waterville that has the power to turn a $20 bill into a nation’s restored faith in humanity — “Mighty” Myles Eckert.

Jeremy Baumhower can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeremytheproduc.

Pounds: Mr. Pounds Goes to Washington

By
Tom Pounds
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It was great to spend a recent few days back in the nation’s capital. It has been a few years since I had made a visit to Washington, D.C., and was there to support the more than 20,000 people who live with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We were there to push legislation that would support people with MS and other afflictions that make people immobile. This was also an opportunity to visit my sister, Virginia, who has worked on The Hill since she left college 30 years ago. She is a great resource for behind the scenes tours and this year she showed us the Capital Building. My fiance, Liljana, had never been to D.C. so that was an added bonus, as we listened to some amazing stories from our country’s history.

The best part of the trip, especially since my son Austin is in the army, was a visit to Arlington Cemetery. I have a grandfather who is buried there and its an amazing place. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the JFK grave site are both moving things to see.

We did some of the Smithsonian museums and that was a treat. The Air and Space Museum was the best experience, with the Spirit of St Louis hanging there as well as the Apollo 11 capsule that carried my hometown hero, Buzz Aldrin, who was the second man to step foot on the moon.

The other sites we were able to see on our brief visit included the Lincoln Memorial, the World War 2 memorial and the Vietnam Wall, as well as the Korean War monument.

All in all there is no place like it on Earth. Even with the discord in Washington today, it is always an honor to be in the nation’s capital to see firsthand the history and legacy that shapes and guides our country.

Toledo Free Press published Tom Pounds’ grandfather is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.


Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at [email protected].

Irish bars anticipate annual spike in business for St. Pat’s

By
Toledo Free Press
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They may not anticipate a pot of gold, but several owners and managers of local Irish pubs do expect a spike in business for St. Patrick’s Day.

Andy Katafiasz, owner of OB’s Tavern on Tremainsville Road in West Toledo, said St. Patrick’s Day accounts for between 11 percent and 14 percent of the bar’s annual revenue.

“One day out of the year, [OB’s] transforms itself into the biggest party in town. … ‘Everybody has to stop by OB’s,’ is what everybody tells me,” Katafiasz said of the 800-square-foot tavern, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Many firefighters, including one who plays the bagpipe, regularly come to OB’s, he added.

“It’s awesome to hear the bagpipes in that little place,” Katafiasz said.

Green beer, drink specials, koozie favors and a special Jiggs dinner are also planned.

Bill Kline, general manager of The Blarney Irish Pub in Downtown Toledo, said even if the weather isn’t great, he expects a crowd at the establishment’s annual party.

“I don’t think the weather’s going to deter folks. Everybody has cabin fever,” he said.

However, weather does have some impact on St. Patrick’s festivities. Last year’s two-day St. Patrick’s Day events at The Blarney drew in more than 7,000 patrons, Kline estimated. However, he recalled the particularly warm St. Patrick’s Day in 2012, where 7,000 came on one day alone.

The pub is hosting Shamrockin’ The Blarney 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, a four-day celebration starting at 9 p.m. March 14. The festivities include a heated tent on Huron Street on March 15 and 17. A portion of the party proceeds go to Local 92 Firefighters Charities and Project iAm, a local charity that raises money for children who have autism.

The Blarney is also offering an Irish brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 16 and an Irish breakfast starting at 7 a.m. March 17. For more details about cab and hotel packages related to Shamrockin’, visit www.theblarneyirishpub.com.

St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Monday may also impact business, said Jeff Lark, owner of Shawn’s Irish Tavern locations in Waterville and Sylvania.

“Sometimes, the best day [for St. Patrick’s Day to fall] is Wednesday or Thursday,” Lark said. “Typically, people are anxious to get out a bit earlier because it’s getting toward the end of the week.”

Lark said he anticipates bigger crowds during the weekend leading up to St. Patrick’s Day.

In addition to green beer, Shawn’s will offer drink specials, entertainment and favors. An $8 Jiggs dinner is available from the afternoon of March 16 through 17. To learn more, visit www.shawnsirishtavern.com. A third Shawn’s Tavern is located at 4400 Heatherdowns Blvd.

Mulvaney’s Bunker Irish Pub & Grub, re-opened on Dorr Street, opened in August so this year will be its first St. Patrick’s Day under new ownership.

“We will end up doing easily three times the amount of business we would originally do,” predicted general manager Matt Killam. He said although the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is typically viewed as bars’ busiest days, St. Patrick’s Day is the focal point for Irish pubs.

He’s not too worried about the weather, either.

“Even if it’s 35 degrees, it will feel tropical to most people,” he said, adding there will be heaters on the patio. In addition to drink specials, there is also a DJ lineup, a Jiggs dinner and starting at 5:30 a.m. March 17, a kegs and eggs breakfast. To learn more, visit www.mulvaneysbunkertoledo.com.

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