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Confusion

By
Rick Kerger
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By Rick Kerger
SPECIAL TO TOLEDO FREE PRESS

Ford looked angrily at him.
“Will you listen?” he snapped.
“I’ve been listening,” said Arthur, “but I am not sure it’s helping.”

Yes, I have been rereading Douglas Adams’ treatise, “Theb More Than Complete Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Universe.” More than 30 years ago, this tome made its way into the world and while it is only slightly less difficult to follow than the Book of Revelation, it is a great deal funnier. I bring this up because modern circumstances make me feel a little like Arthur Dent, the protagonist of Adams’ works.

Shooting across the galaxy in an in-credibly large spacecraft with a two-headed friend and a depressed robot, then having to put up with an even larger spacecraft filled with comatose telephone sanitizers and hairdressers, coupled with watching his planet (that is to say our planet) blown up, Arthur is a bit puzzled. So am I these days.

Some of the puzzling things are good, but still inexplicable. For example, when John Kennedy ran for president, there was a near-constant attack to the effect that if he were elected, the pope would run the United States. That was because of his religion— he was a Catholic. Mitt Romney is an active and sincere Mormon, a Christian religion of fairly recent vintage that is far less mainstream than Catholicism. Yet his religion in no way became even a side issue in the recent election.

Now perhaps there were closets full of people voting for Obama and against Romney because of Mitt’s Mormonism, but that seems pretty unlikely.

So why this complete shift in attitude in just 50 years? Why an outbreak of tolerance in regard to religion? Is it because Democrats are more tolerant? Or maybe the Broadway play about the Mormons humanized them and Mitt?

Then I read about a group of Texans that wants to have their home state secede from the union. What is ironic is that the odds-on favorite movie to win the Best Picture Oscar this year is “Lincoln,” a film about how a president becomes a giant historical figure by defeating the South’s effort to secede! Perhaps they do not show the film in Texas, but if I were heading down the avenue some of them apparently are, it is a film worth watching.Dallas might wind up looking like Atlanta after Gen. Sherman’s saunter through Georgia.

Then there is the “fiscal cliff.” Apparently the United States Congress and the president are going to join hands and run over a cliff like lemmings because of inaction. Criticism could be leveled that the cliff is not high enough and certainly not soon enough to have avoided the insanity of the last election, but we talk about its consequences as being the economic equivalent of the Bubonic plague! From my reading, it is more like a fiscal speed bump than a cliff.

All of this has combined to create a miasma that leaves me as confused as Arthur Dent — I am listening but it is not helping.

Where is Zaphod Beeblebrox when we need him?

Pounds: Questionable bid-ness

By
Tom Pounds
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By Tom Pounds

The economy is on the minds of more than just business owners. It seems everyone is hyper-aware of the economic uncertainty that has investment retracting and governments finding new ways of conducting business to save taxpayer money.

In October 2011, Gov. John Kasich signed into law Ohio House Bill 153, which broke the monopoly daily publications held on legal notices purchased with public money.

The bill eliminated the limitation that links charging for newspapers with being permitted to publish legal notices. It opened the legal publication business to any newspaper of general circulation that publishes at least once a week and meets other criteria, all of which Toledo Free Press satisfies. The bill also requires a participating newspaper to offer its best classified rate for such publications. The planned participation of newspapers such as Toledo Free Press is intended to ensure that the best rate offered by any participant in this market will be competitive. The result should be substantial savings for all who are required to publish legal notices.

Toledo Free Press has, predictably, had to fight to get local government to learn and respect the new law. A number of agencies have begun taking advantage of our lower rates to reach Lucas County taxpayers. Recently, we began the process with Lucas County Auditor Anita Lopez to compete for delinquent property ads. The county’s last purchase of these ads in The Blade cost taxpayers $369,145.98.

Eventually, Lopez sought an opinion from the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, which, on Oct. 16, ruled, “[Toledo] Free Press would now qualify as a paper of general circulation.”

Shortly after that, Lopez opened bids for the delinquent property ads.

The numbers would seem to make the choice easy. Toledo Free Press publishes 86,600 copies (2012 CVC audit). During a weekday when The Blade would presumably carry the delinquent property ads, the daily newspaper prints 81,473 copies with 59,249 of those copies distributed in Lucas County (September 2011 ABC audit; the September 2012 audit is not available yet).

There are three other factors in Toledo Free Press’ favor. While a daily newspaper comes and goes in one day, our paper is on racks in 432 locations for seven days in addition to our 70,000 home-delivered copies. It is worth noting that taxpayers who wish to see the information they have paid to publish would get that information at no cost in Toledo Free Press; they would have to pay for it (again) to read it in a daily newspaper.

But here is the most striking difference: The Blade’s Nov. 26 bid was $330,617.70. Our bid was $86,100. Seems like an easy choice, but Lopez (and the Lucas County Commissioners) went with the bid that ran almost four times higher.

Too many Lucas County officials are stuck in old models and counterproductive ways of thinking. There is a new reality, and while many fear and resent the changes, those changes are active in many counties and will continue to chip away at reckless spending of taxpayer money.

Toledo Free Press will continue to compete for county legal ads, in what will undoubtedly be a long educational process.

You may absolutely accuse us of sour grapes. In fact, as a Lucas County taxpayer, you may accuse us of harboring 244,517 sour grapes, one for each of your dollars Lopez needlessly spent.

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

Project seeks to restore Trinity church bells

By
Brigitta Burks
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There are 12 stationary bells and one swinging bell in the Trinity Episcopal Church tower. Photo- Joseph Herr

The bells that rest in the tower of Trinity Episcopal Church have not rung out in song in about 20 years — but if one Toledo resident is successful, they will ring again this spring.

Wayne North, a local veterinarian, and The Old Trinity Foundation recently kicked off a donation campaign to raise the $50,000 needed to get the chimes repaired. The bells fell silent because of age, weather and rust, North said. The campaign is seeking contributions from individuals, organizations and businesses.

In 1941, Ellen Gardner, a member of a well-known local family, purchased the bells for the Downtown church in memory of her parents and siblings. Gardner’s home was at the corner of Madison Avenue and Superior Street, now the location of the Gardner Building.

That building was designed by Ellen’s brother, an architect. It was considered the first fire-proof building in Toledo, North said.

Ellen died in the 1960s after moving to the East Coast.

The Meneely Bell Foundry, started in 1826 in Troy, N.Y., produced the Gardner Memorial Bells. It closed in 1952, making the bells irreplaceable, North said.

There are 12 stationary bells and one swinging bell in Trinity’s tower. The bells are bronze, meaning they are 80 percent copper and 20 percent tin, and weigh 9.6 tons together.

The largest bell is 4,600 pounds; bells today aren’t made to weigh more than 1,000 pounds, North said.

North, formerly a member of the now closed St. Mark’s church, became interested in the bells when his congregation joined Trinity at the beginning of 2012.

“One of the things that fascinated me was the bells. But when I went in and talked to people and said, ‘What about the bells?’ you’d get sort of these blank looks, like, ‘Bells, what are you talking about, bells?’” North said.

North was able to go into the tower after he contacted a representative from a bell company to accompany him. He was shocked to see the bells along his dusty and steep ascent into the tower.

“When I got up in the tower, I was absolutely stunned by what was up there, just sitting there,” he said.

Smith’s Bell and Clock Company, a Mooresville, Ind., firm, will oversee the restoration. JJ Smith, the firm’s owner, said the project should take 8 to 12 weeks once started.

“They’ve got enough bells here to make a musical scale and we can take advantage of that through our bell controller and preprogram songs to play throughout the day,” Smith said.

Originally, the bells were played with a manual keyboard. In the ’70s, an electronic keyboard that stimulated direct current solenoids to ring the bells, was brought in. However, the solenoids are no longer made so the new system will need striking hammers and a digital electronic controller.

North said because the new system will be digitized, a musician could record a song ahead of time on a flash drive and schedule it to play later. There is also an option for someone to play a song live.

The revitalized bells will not just be for the religious community, but the whole Downtown, he said.

“We would start it off striking the hour, so people get acclimated to it. We would do noon and midnight rather than every hour until we see how everybody acclimates to that happening. Then we will do a scheduled concert,” North said.

“Let’s say when they have the fireworks on the Fourth of July, we play patriotic music,” he added. “It’s what we call restoring Toledo’s soundscape.”

The Rev. Elizabeth Hoster of Trinity said, “Part of our mission (at Trinity) is to be engaged in the life of the city. This is a new way, or rather a renewal of an old way to do that.”

One recording exists of the bells, North said. The recording, complete with street sounds of the period, was made from the corner of Adams and St. Clair streets in 1945. A 16-year-old girl was playing the bells at the time.

North also hopes to involve children of today with the bells. He said he could see them helping young, local musicians learn about playing bells.

He hopes to get the restoration funds raised by the end of January so the bells are playing by spring.

“It’s really, really great to know we have this historic set of bells here in Toledo. I think getting them back into playable condition is really important and I think it’ll be a really wonderful addition to the Downtown area,” North said.

Smith said the finish on the bells is good and will be left alone. He did say the swinging bell will take more effort to repair and a small crane will be needed to remove some of the materials around that bell for restoration.

The project can offer something to the whole community, Smith said.

“Music is the key to the spice of life. I think this is a project that not only the church can benefit from, but the whole community can get something from. What we’re doing is we’re creating [or] embarking on another area of history with these bells,” he said.

Hoster agreed.

“There’s something about bells in the soundscape of the community that just says that you’re not alone; that says that you’re a part of something very big and you know at that moment that everyone’s hearing the same thing that you’re hearing.

“They’re for everyone. The rich, the poor, the person in the cubicle … the person who is living across the street.”

She also praised North’s commitment to the project.

“This is a classic example of people using their passions for a really good cause. Between his love for music, his love of things as a preservationist, his love of history — he’s carried the flag on this,” she said. “Any time a member of the community has a passion like that and leads the way, it’s wonderful.”

Contributions can be sent to The Old Trinity Foundation, Gardner Bell Fund, 316 Adams St., Toledo, 43604. Those who donate more than $500 qualify for a tower visit if they are physically able to make the climb.

For more information, visit www.trinitytoledo.org/bells.html.

Letter to the Editor, Dec 9, 2012

By
Tim Yenrick
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During the past five years, on average, Red Cross volunteers have responded to one home fire each night of the year. That’s one family, every night, displaced. One family, each night of the year, that loses their home, possessions and, most tragically, a sense of comfort and stability.

One family per night, and we haven’t even begun to talk about the impact on their neighbors or community.As winter settles in across Northwest Ohio, we enter the prime season for home fires, especially those due to alternative sources of heating. In December, January and February the bulk of fires we respond to are due to unsafe and, in many circumstances, unnecessary means of keeping a home warm.

The American Red Cross urges families to be cautious when using space heaters and other heating sources, and to make a plan in case of a home fire or other disaster.

To prevent heating-related fires,the American Red Cross offers the following prevention tips to stop heating fires before they start:

✯Keep all potential fuel sources (newspapers, matches, bedding,clothing, carpets and rugs) at least three feet away from heat sources, such as space heaters, fireplaces and stoves.

✯Turn off portable space heaters every time you leave the room or go to sleep.

✯Have wood and coal stoves,fireplaces and chimneys inspected annually by a professional and cleaned if necessary.

✯If you must use a space heater,place it on a level, hard and nonflammable surface (such as ceramic tile floor), not on rugs or carpets or near bedding or drapes.

As anyone who has spent time working with us can tell you, responding to these types of disasters and alleviating the suffering that comes as a consequence are a major part of who we are and what we do.

The nature of our work is often reactive. Response is at the core of our mission.We understand disasters happen,and we are working hard to stress the importance of preparation and prevention. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Preparing for a home fire doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment ortraining, and doesn’t take much time.In addition to following the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use heating equipment, one of the easiest ways to prepare for a fire is to check that all of your home’s smoke alarms are in good condition.

Smoke alarms should be installed outside of each sleeping area and on each level of your home.Prevention and preparedness in the winter months also means taking pro-active steps to ensure more traditional utilities are uninterrupted. If natural gas or electricity is shutoff, substituting ovens, charcoal grills, stoves or candles to heat a home is extremely dangerous and can lead to severe emergency situations.

In most cases, these situations are unnecessary to begin with, as help securing home heating is available. There are several programs to share. However the first suggestion for every situation is to contact your local utility company at the first sign you may have trouble paying your bill. The sooner it is informed about an issue or problem, the more options there will be for assistance.

Currently, the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) offers assistance to families with a household income of up to 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines, or $46,100 for a family of four. For more information,or to find the agency in your county that administers HEAP funding,please contact the Ohio Development Services Agency at 1-800-282-0880. It is our hope that every household stays warm and safe this winter.

✯TIM YENRICK, Regional CEO, American Red Cross Greater Toledo Chapter

Miller: Holiday with Heart

By
Michael Miller
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Toledo Free Press has, from the beginning, supported LGBT-friendly issues like domestic partner benefits and equal marriage rights. In addition to basic human respect and dignity arguments, there are sound business reasons for operating with an inclusive mindset. It is a recruitment tool and an inevitable element of retaining quality employees. When a domestic partner benefits proposal went before Toledo City Council in May, it was reported that “21 states and over 200 local governments, at least 98 Fortune 100 companies, 442 Fortune 500 companies, and approximately 9,000 other private companies, non-profit organizations and unions provide health insurance and other benefits to their employees’ domestic partners. In Toledo, these employers include the University of Toledo, Lucas County, Owens Corning and the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce. Furthermore, the cities of Cleveland, Columbus and Franklin County offer their employees domestic partner benefits and at least 14 Ohio public and private universities and colleges offer these benefits.”

But it took a meeting with local LGBT advocate Rick Cornett almost four years ago to open my eyes to some specific issues. Cornett challenged Toledo Free Press to offer a voice to specific individuals and to cover LGBT events and fundraisers as part of its regular coverage. That conversation led to our involvement with two annual events, the Toledo Pride Festival and Parade and Holiday with Heart Charity Gayla.

Through these efforts, Toledo Free Press has been proud to work with the LGBT community and I have met some amazing people and made some wonderful friends. In addition to my admiration for Cornett and his tireless work for the Toledo community, getting to know Toledo Pride’s Lexi Staples and Emily Hickey has been one of the best rewards of my eight years with Toledo Free Press. Hickey, who is as lovely and loving a person as you are going to meet, and Cornett contribute regular columns to Toledo Free Press Star. In addition to her take-no-prisoners approach to taking care of business, Staples works for such artistic causes as the Toledo Opera and allowed us to use the recording of her late father, Dennis Staples, reading “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” for this year’s “Holiday Wishes 2” CD benefiting Make-A-Wish Foundation.

For three years, Toledo Free Press has sponsored Holiday with Heart Charity Gayla, which raises funds for local LGBT organizations. The event takes place at the Toledo Club, which is holiday ready with its parade of decorated trees. This year’s Dec. 1 event, which hosted the largest crowd in its 35-year history, was a typically lavish and fun affair. The evening began with music by the Kelly Broadway Duo, which set a classy atmosphere as guests entered and made their way to the third floor, where the program began.

It is a testament to the Holiday with Heart directors — David Bingham, Cornett, Ed Hoffman, Andrew Larson, Wayne North and Kenyetta White — that a 35-year-old event is still cresting in attendance and quality. The music, decorations and mood are top-shelf. This year’s event benefited The Toledo Pride Foundation, The Toledo Region Office of the AIDS Resource Center Ohio, The Gay and Lesbian Student Endowment Fund at the University of Toledo and The Holiday with Heart Fund at the Toledo Community Foundation. A representative from each group spoke as people mingled and started the party.

There was a performance by dancers from the Toledo Ballet, before dinner was served on the first floor, which featured tables filling all three areas of the main floor. During dinner, male models from Cityboyz circled the tables, selling raffle tickets (in lengths determined by inseam or bust measurements). Toledo Club members may normally be expected to wear jackets when dining, but the Cityboyz models were dressed in just the latest underwear fashions. I’m not sure who was more worked up over the Cityboyz models, the gay men or the straight women, but it looked like a lot of raffle tickets were sold. Tom Brooks Studio was on hand to take photos and after dinner people migrated back to the third floor for dessert and dancing, with DJ Martha Rappoport.

One of the guests, seeing the many notable business and community leaders in attendance, wondered why there were so few elected officials on hand.  This is clearly a huge opportunity to court a political alliance going to waste, he noted, and he is absolutely right.

During the program before dinner, Cornett presented Toledo Free Press with the event’s Founder’s Award, which is given annually to a supporter of the LGBT community. It is a humbling and overwhelming honor. As I said at the event, while I determine our editorial direction, the paper’s sponsorships and advertising dollars are the discretion of our publisher, Tom Pounds. I closed my brief remarks by saying that I understand the Holiday with Heart recognition is not about Toledo Free Press somehow accepting the gay community; it is about the gay community somehow accepting Toledo Free Press.

For that, we are appreciative and grateful.

 

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Email him at [email protected].

Owens Community College concert honors legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen

By
John Dorsey
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In the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, honor and courage can sometimes seem like outdated concepts, relegated to the pages of history books.

Owens Community College is doing its part to make history come alive with its Dec. 9 holiday tribute concert to the famed flying aces known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

“For the last three years we have done tributes honoring veterans. Our show marking the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attracted an audience of around 600 people, and we’re hoping to be able to at least match that this year,” said Fred Dais, Owens adjunct instructor in fine and performing arts and concert band conductor.

The Tuskegee Airmen were an elite group of African-American pilots in the 1940s, though this term also includes navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors and all the personnel who kept their planes in the air.

The show will feature the college band performing patriotic tunes and holiday classics in honor of the airmen, including Catawba Island’s own Lt.Col. Harold H. Brown, who will be on hand as part of a special tribute.

During World War II, Brown served in the 332nd Fighter Group and completed 30 missions before being shot down and held as a prisoner of war in Germany. He returned home in1945 and served more than 23 years in the U.S. Air Force.

“I’ve always been interested in the Tuskegee Airmen. This tribute came about because I read an article about how their numbers were diminishing,” Dais said. “I felt that we needed to honor their service and that it was something that had to happen as soon as possible. I want people who attend this show to come away feeling good and to just know how lucky we are to live in this country and that there are heroes out there yet, like Lt. Col. Brown, who should be celebrated.”

The free concert is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre. Musical selections will include “Stars and Stripes for Christmas,” “Harlem Nocturne,” “A Jazzy Christmas.”“March Grandioso,” “Of Honor and Valor,” “A Hanukkah Festival,” “Winterfest” and “Merry Christmas Everyone,” among others.

Lt. Col. Brown,who will be serenaded as part of a special encore, will be available after the concert to answer questions.

For more information, call (567)661-7081 or visit www.owens.ed

HCR ManorCare, ProMedica develop new care facility

By
Duane Ramsey
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A patient room similar to this one would be part of a new facility in Sylvania proposed by HCR ManorCare and ProMedica.

Two Toledo-based health care companies, HCR ManorCare and ProMedica, recently announced a collaborative agreement to develop anew skilled nursing and rehabilitation center to be built on the campus of Flower Hospital in Sylvania. The 120-bed facility will replace the ProMedica Lake Park skilled nursing facility on that campus afterit opens in 2015, said Randy Schimmoeller, senior vice president of operations for ProMedica.

The facility will provide “medically complex and intensive rehabilitation services for short-term patients transitioning from hospital to home in addition to 24-hour skilled nursing care,” according to a news release.

The agreement is an example of how collaboration among providers can have “a positive impact for our communities with the anticipated changes in the healthcare environment,” according to a joint statement sent to ProMedica board members from board chairman Stephen Staelin and President and CEO Randy Oostra.

“HCR ManorCare is an ideal partner both because it has local connections and is a nationally recognized expert in achieving successful outcomes for patients transitioning home,” said Oostra in the statement.

“We are excited about combining the excellence of two premier healthcare providers in Northwest Ohio to provide the community with enhanced post-hospital services,” said Paul Ormond, HCR ManorCare chairman, in the release. “ProMedica and HCR Manor-Care working together will offer a unique alternative to care in our community for those recovering from illness, injury or surgery.”

The goals of the collaborative agreement are to improve the quality of patient care and transitions among providers across the continuum of care; to help reduce preventable and unnecessary rehospitalizations; to enhance patient satisfaction in a post-hospital setting; and to increase efficiencies and reduce costs, according to both organizations.

“It’s an evolution of our existing relationship. We have a relationship with them for acute-care patients, but it’s the first time we are coming together by bringing our expertise and resources to build a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility,” said Schimmoeller of HCR ManorCare.

“It was a natural development in our relationship with them. We’ve done it differently in other parts of the country, but this is the first for a skilled nursing facility with a collaborative agreement,” said Gerry Ann Stolzenburg, regional director of operations for HCR ManorCare.

“With the two large organizations based in Toledo, it made sense forus to work together on this project.”The next step in the process is to apply for Certificate of Need approval with the Ohio Department of Health,which is required for long-term care beds.

That process could take six to 12 months once the document is filed,which is expected to happen in the next few months, according to officials from both organizations. Schimmoeller said it is actually a replacement of beds from Lake Park to the new facility and not an addition of beds to the regional system.

He said Lake Park will continue to operate until the new facility opens and through a transition period.Construction would begin several months after the Certificate of Need is approved by the state to allow HCR ManorCare time to design the new facility and prepare for construction. It is expected to be completed in 2015.

A key provision of the collaboration is forming a quality committee, comprised of clinical staff representing ProMedica and HCR ManorCare, to consider overall operations, best practices and what the two organizations can do jointly to improve patient care with the new facility, according to both organizations.

The new facility is expected to feature an innovative gym, spacious private and semiprivate rooms with flat-screen televisions, Wi-Fi service,attractive social areas and multipurpose rooms with personal care services, including a barbershop and beauty salon.

“The quality committee working to plan the facility and develop the project is quite unique,” Stolzenburg said.

“This type of partnership is good for the community and our patients,” Schimmoeller added.

The committee will also review the six existing Heartland skilled nursing facilities operated by HCR ManorCare in Northwest Ohio, Stolzenburg said.

HCR ManorCare recently opened similar facilities in Michigan, New Jersey and Washington. Last month, it broke ground for a center in Twinsburg, near Cleveland, and has plans for another in the Columbus area, Stolzenburg said.

HCR ManorCare is a leading provider of post-hospital skilled nursing and rehabilitation services with more than 500 centers, including 45 in Ohio and six in Northwest Ohio operatingu nder the Heartland name.

ProMedica, a not-for-profit health care organization formed in 1986, is one of the region’s largest employers with 14,300 employees,1,700 physicians on staff at its 11 hospitals and 306 facilities for medical and surgical services.

Holiday Wishes 2: Mary Beth and Rick interview Santa for CD

By
Erin Holden
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Mary Beth Zolik and Rick Woodell of 101.5 The River's "Mary Beth and Rick" show interviewed Santa for the second Make a Wish CD. Photo courtesy Clear Channel.

Mary Beth Zolik and Rick Woodell of 101.5 The River recently had a special guest visit their downtown Toledo studio.

Santa Claus stopped by to chat with the hosts of the “Mary Beth and Rick” morning show.

“We have long been known as ‘The Christmas Station, Christmas on The River’,” Woodell said of the radio station, which starts playing Christmas music in mid-November. “We got the very rare opportunity to interview Santa. We did it here in the studio. Santa stood right there. We sat at our normal stations and just recorded like we would any other interview — although we were both very nervous because it was Santa Claus.

“Santa’s a great guy, let me tell you. He’s got a big belly; it shakes like a bowl of jelly. I understand he can go up and down chimneys. I did not see this happen, but that’s what I’m told and I have no reason not to believe him. He seemed rather magical. Just an all-around good guy. Definitely somebody you want to stay on the good side of.

“We just launched into it and the interview flowed real well. We feel like all the right questions were asked and answered.”

Woodell said he and Zolik were honored to be asked to contribute the interview to the “Holiday Wishes 2” CD for Make-A-Wish.

“It’s quite an honor,” Woodell said. “Anytime you can do something that involves community and that involves charity in a community, we love to do that. Our job is perceived by the public as playing music and some commercials, which is a huge part of it and we have a great time doing that, but when we can give back in any way, shape or form, if they can use us as a platform for something that helps others, we love it. That’s what the business is really about. That’s how it got started and that’s what it should be.

“Our contribution is just one little bitty teeny tiny wheel in this giant thing. The whole project, if you take away any one thing from it, it would be the spirit of giving. It’s always nice to remind ourselves at Christmas, but hopefully it will follow through for the rest of the year, too, and not just Christmas.”

Zolik, who recently announced she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and has started chemotherapy, will blog at “Mary Beth’s Journey” at www.1015theriver.com.

‘Holiday Wishes 2′: Dennis Staples’ family donates ‘Grinch’ reading

By
Toledo Free Press
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The late Dennis Staples' reading of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss is featured on the Holiday Wishes 2 CD. Photo courtesy the Staples family.

Five years after his death from kidney disease at age 60, memories of longtime Toledo morning radio personality Dennis Staples still make his wife and daughter laugh.

“He would always narrate what he was doing,” his wife, Johanna Staples, recalled. “He would go into the bathroom and say into the mirror, ‘He combs his hair on the right and now he combs it on the left.’”

“‘Dennis Staples executes a nearly flawless hand-over-hand left hand turn,’” his daughter, Lexi Staples, added, laughing. “He just did it to amuse himself.”

“It was like color commentary for his life, like you’d hear at a ball game,” Johanna said. “We knew not to laugh at him because if you laughed at him he would do it more.”

Staples and his on-air partner Bob Kelly hosted “The Kelly and Staples Show” in Toledo for 19 years. They also appeared in many local TV commercials.

The Christmas season is difficult for the Staples family. Dennis died Dec. 17, 2007. His funeral was days before Christmas and his birthday was also in December.

Dennis Staples

“He was very quick-witted and ridiculously smart,” Lexi said of her father, who retired from radio in 2006 due to his deteriorating health. “He was my personal Google before Google was a thing. I would call my dad about any question that came up. He just knew everything about everything. He’s the smartest person I’ve ever known.”

The family contributed a track of Dennis reading Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” to the “Holiday Wishes 2” CD for Make-A-Wish.

Johanna, a special education teacher, discovered the recording by accident several years ago after using an old cassette tape of promotional holiday songs and readings for background music in one of her classes. Toward the end of the recording, she was shocked to hear her late husband’s voice.

The track was donated to the 2011 CD, but rights issues were complicated.

“We had to procure permission from Warner Bros., Random House and the Dr. Seuss estate,” said Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, who produced the CD. “All three companies eventually agreed, so  it is exciting to finally get this track to the public. But it started with the generosity of the Staples family.”

Several of Johanna’s former students have had wishes granted by Make-A-Wish, so she has a soft spot in her heart for the organization.

“At the beginning of my career, I worked with students who were terminally ill. To be able to survive the sadness of it, it’s really hard,” Johanna said. “As a home instructor, I would go to homes or hospitals to work with them and try to help, at least a little bit, keep their lives as normal as possible. And because they knew it didn’t scare me to be with an ill child, I was given quite a few over the years.”

Johanna said Dennis’s health issues were devastating, but also a blessing for the way they helped deepen their relationship.

“His illness was a gift that made us closer and more connected than most married couples get,” Johanna said. “You always wait till tomorrow to say that important thing you need to say to the other person. In my case, we said it every day because we didn’t know if tomorrow was going to be there. He would think every day about how important the people in his life were and he knew it was important to say it, so those words you forget to say or don’t take the time to say, those words got said. I’m not saying my marriage was perfect, but it was genuine. It was real. We were married almost 32 years. A lot of couples don’t have that gift. I miss my best friend. I miss my heart.”

Those who remember “The Kelly and Staples Show” will definitely recognize Dennis’ voice on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Lexi said.

“It’s not how he talked at home. His radio voice and his home voice, while they sounded similar, weren’t the same thing,” Lexi said. “He peppers a lot of personality into his voice. It’s fun to listen to.”

‘Holiday Wishes 2′: Mannheim Steamroller means Christmas

By
Toledo Free Press
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When a man is everyone else’s Christmas tradition, there isn’t much he can do to impress his three children.

But that doesn’t stop Chip Davis from trying — and succeeding.

The founder of Mannheim Steamroller isn’t often home with children Kelly, Evan and Elyse during the busy holiday season, but he makes sure a few traditions endure.

The first is that he must be home for Christmas Day.

“Everyone else is home for Christmas. I just happen to be their entertainment; I am their tradition,” he said.

While home used to be Sylvania as a boy and later a music teacher at McCord Junior High, his home for most of his adult life has been Omaha, Neb., where he runs his music empire.

Getting home is harder for Davis  because his groups’ concerts, television specials and guest appearances often serve as Christmas traditions for everyone else.

Mannheim Steamroller’s annual holiday tour began Nov. 15 and continues with 90 performances through Dec. 30. This is the 27th year for the Christmas tour, which still sells out after all these years. Mannheim will be in Cleveland on Dec. 21 and then Columbus on Dec. 22.

Last year, the Mannheim Steamroller tour was among the top 20 concert tours in the nation and included a stop in Toledo.

This year, Mannheim’s song “Fum Fum Fum” will be featured on the Make-A-Wish holiday album, “Holiday Wishes 2,” produced by Toledo Free Press.

Adding to Davis’ busy schedule, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas will have its first run in Las Vegas.

“While the Christmas tour is going on, I will go out to Las Vegas because the third touring company of Mannheim will be playing in the Venetian every day until the first of the year,” he said.

For Thanksgiving, Davis will fly to New York City for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Davis doesn’t play much anymore, but he will perform in the parade.

“I had neck surgery five years ago and it took my right arm out of commission,” he said. “It didn’t mean the end for me; it focused me on building the business.”

One of those newer projects is “Mannheim Steamroller: Pandora Unforgettable Moments on Ice.” It will air Nov. 25 from 4-6 p.m., the same day that Davis will celebrate Thanksgiving with his children. He is divorced from their mother.

“Christmas has always been a really favorite holiday, but I really love Thanksgiving,” he said. “It is hard to have a normal Thanksgiving with the Macy’s parade, so we will celebrate on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend and watch the television special.”

More traditions

Davis and his family listen to Mannheim just like many families during the holidays, but their home-cooked meals are his second must-do tradition. One of his favorites is figgy pudding.

“My grandfather was a country doctor in Hamler, Ohio, and my grandma was a country cook. I can make a lot of her recipes because the tastes are still in my mouth and mind.

“If we are doing turkey, the challenge is not the turkey, it is the dressing. My grandmother added sausage to it and toasted almonds,” he said.

And then there is the French gravy with white wine. He can taste it already.

His memories are especially vivid these days after a trip to Northwest Ohio in September when his hometown of Sylvania and Sylvania Northview High School, recognized the Grammy-winning composer and musician who once played percussion in his high school band. Davis attended Sylvania High School before it split into Northview and Southview.

The city declared it “Chip Davis Day,” which was followed by a dedication of a street as “Chip Davis Way” at Silica Drive and Monroe Street. Davis grew up on Weldwood Lane where his childhood home is still standing, although the only child no longer has any family in the area.

Later that day, Davis was honored with a presentation at the halftime of the football game. Alumni sang the school’s alma mater, which Chip’s father, Louis Davis, composed. Chip is named after his father, but his mom, Betty, didn’t want people to say “Hey Junior,” so she started calling him Chip as a boy.

“Certainly my dad had a big hand in influencing me as a musician and composer,” Davis said.  “He could improvise on a piano like crazy.”

Davis came from a musical family. His dad was a high school music teacher, he learned piano from his grandmother and his mother played a trombone in an orchestra.  When he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in musical education, Davis had mastered the bassoon and percussion.

But he tried to fight his destiny when he was a young choir boy.

 

Sylvania native Chip Davis, founder of Mannheim Steamroller, and a reindeer friend.

“I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I was fascinated with building things and measuring, but I found out that I liked measuring sound best so that drove me back to music,” Davis said, laughing.

His first job out of college was teaching music at McCord and playing the bassoon in the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.  While being a teacher wasn’t his ultimate goal, it helped prepare him for his next career move.

“I was doing it to figure out how to be a composer,” he said. “I was teaching and learning and treading water simultaneously. While I was teaching, I had a ball doing it. It ended up causing me to crystallize my thoughts about music. I had to teach someone else. The teaching experience ended up being good for me. When I wrote compositions, I had a better idea how to communicate music to the average person.”

Final tradition

At 65 years old, Davis is starting to think about the future of Mannheim and passing the tradition on.

So far, his 21-year-old daughter Kelly has shown the most interest. His other children, Evan, 16, and Elyse, 13, are still a little young to make a decision.

“I definitely see myself staying with the company,” said Kelly, who is the social media manager already. “We had a contest about why Mannheim means the holidays to people, and I read all 4,000 entries. People were saying that their kids listen to it, their grandmas listen to it. It would be silly not to continue the legacy that is Mannheim Steamroller.”

Growing up, Kelly said her dad was always just her dad.

“He wasn’t some crazy rock star,” she said. “We lived in the Midwest and had good values.”

Davis settled in Omaha after conducting a local production of “Hair.” He then took a job as a jingle writer for a Nebraska advertising agency. He started trading studio time for jingles.

Before his parents died, they witnessed some of his early success with his first album “Fresh Aire.”

“My dad was the piano tuner for the tour and my mom would travel just to be out there. They got to go and see the crowds build and see where it was heading,” Davis said.

The term “Mannheim Steamroller” comes from an 18th-century German musical technique called “Mannheim roller,” also known as the Mannheim rocket. The Mannheim rocket is a series of rapidly ascending broken chords from the lowest range of the bass line to the very top of the soprano line.

In 1984, Davis decided to create a Christmas album and soon Mannheim Steamroller Christmas was wowing  listeners with its modernized, electronic version of “Deck the Halls.” Shortly after, he put together his first Mannheim Steamroller Christmas tour.

“When I told the distributors and realtors I wanted to do a Christmas album, they said, ‘You’re nuts. The only time an artist will do a Christmas album is when they run out of ideas.’”

In Davis’ case, the Christmas album made his career. Today, Davis’ Mannheim has all types of fans, even melting the heart of political pundit Rush Limbaugh who plays Mannheim on his political radio show and encourages people to attend the concerts.

“It is interesting for us because our Christmas is helping other people have their Christmas traditions,” said Terry Calek, marketing and communication director for Mannheim.

Calek, a longtime friend of Davis’, said this year was especially busy because of the new Las Vegas show, a major production.

“Chip doesn’t do anything small; he doesn’t do anything ordinary.  He has never lost that sense of childhood wonder,” Calek said.

But even when Davis is busy, he makes time for his family and for traditions, she said.

“It always strikes me how magical it would have been to grow up with him as a father,” Calek said.

One time Davis set up cans of twinkly lights in a nearby meadow and told his children “the fairies had come,” Kelly said. For Halloween, he hosts a huge party for his children and their friends. He sets up a big screen showing black and white horror films. He sprinkles in a fortune teller, a headless horseman, witches and caldrons.

And his children seem to be taking after their creative father. Both his son and youngest daughter’s are exceptional instrumentalists, while Kelly, a vocalist, is talented on the business side.

Because Kelly works with her dad, she gets to see him more these days, but Christmas is still one of her favorite days with her dad. This year, he will be home by Dec. 23.

Kelly said her dad has always made Christmas Day special. He used to tell them that Santa was flying over the house, heading back to the North Pole. They would head outside with fake heat-sensing guns, and he would say, “Do you hear something?”

Not until a few years ago did Kelly learn that her dad had secretly set up a recording of jingling bells.

“That is definitely something I want to do with my kids,” she said.

And this speaks to the success of Mannheim: Traditions, like good music, make everything better.

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