Home Blog Page 245

Sears: Responsibly addressing pension reform

By
Toledo Free Press
-
0

By State Rep. Barbara Sears

The years spent after retirement should be some of the most enjoyable years of a person’s life. But under Ohio’s current public pension system, the retirement of about 1.7 million Ohioans was not certain, particularly for future generations.

Last week, the Ohio House passed a series of reforms that addressed the threat of insolvency and unsustainability the systems had been facing. Through the findings of a report by the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC), the House moved forward on the Senate-passed bills in an open and bipartisan process.

It made sense to me and my colleagues in the House to wait for the study to be released before passing legislation that impacts so many people. The ORSC report confirmed that the Senate bills were a good start, but that some further changes needed to be made.

For instance, the Senate plan included provisions tha allowed pension boards the unilateral
authority to change pension requirements and benefits on demand.

However, the House felt it was appropriate to delay this authority by 180 days, during which the ORSC will study the potential impact of board authority and its
alternatives. This provision will help protect the solvency of the pension system, making it easier for public employees to plan for their futures.

Ohio is unique in that it has five separatepublic pension systems, whereas most states have only one or two. That allows public employees in Ohio more flexibility in their retirement planning and is a reason why I believe Ohio has such great public workers.

However, without reform, those retirement systems eventually would have collapsed, which would have obviously been devastating for so many hardworking Ohioans who had planned for years for their retirement.

This bipartisan plan also safeguards taxpayer dollars. One theme throughout each of the bills was asking public employees to contribute more toward their retirements, therefore restraining from having tax dollars pouring into a system that isn’t even sustainable.

I commend the members of the House and Senate, as well as all of those who testified on the issue. I believe the process was open from beginning to end, which resulted in good legislation that will ensure stable retirements for Ohio’s public employees
for years to come.

District 46 Representative Barbara Sears may be reached by calling (614) 466-1731, emailing District46@ohr. state.oh.us, or writing to State Rep. Barbara Sears, 77 South High St., Columbus, Ohio

Densic: Relearn and return

By
Toledo Free Press
-
0

By Robert Densic

In this heated election season, many politicians are telling you what the main cause of our nation’s problems is. We hear concerns of a federal government spending problem that gives drunken sailors a bad name. Someone else will offer up a concern of federal revenue or someone not paying their fair share. While these answers focus on the frightening economic conditions we find ourselves in, they often miss a larger debate: that of God-given freedom and liberty, or state control.

The forefathers who came to this continent did so with a clearly established goal. The Mayflower Compact reads, “in the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten … by the grace of God … defender of Faith; having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith … a voyage to plant the first colony… do by these present, and in the presence of God, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic.” Apparently the forefathers had not attended public education where they would be taught of “separation of church and state.”

Our nation’s Founding Fathers carried this vision forward throughout our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. The italics are mine.

Declaration of Independence

“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them …

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights …

“… and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

The U.S. Constitution

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America.”

Like so much of our nation’s history, we have forgotten where we have come from. We have ignored the lessons of the past and we have stood by as the principles that were fought and paid for with blood have been twisted or ignored. The forefathers who came to this continent did so to maximize the freedoms they recognized as coming from God. Our Founding Fathers fought a war with the most advanced and feared army and navy the world had ever seen. They won and secured that freedom not only for themselves, but for future generations.

It is our duty, it is our solemn obligation to carry on these principles. The book of Revelation warns us “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Rev 2:5). As Joshua was taking the nation of Israel to the Promised Land, representatives from the twelve tribes carried stones from the river bed of the Jordan River to create a memorial — so that future generations would learn and return to the ways of God-given freedom.

On Sept. 17,  we celebrated the 225th anniversary of our Constitution. If we are to restore our nation, we must take up the burden of remembering the past, relearning the principles and returning to them. We can become in the words of Samuel Adams “the tireless, irate minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men!”

Here are 10 steps you can take to save the Constitution, created by Julia Shaw of The Heritage Foundation.

1. Read it.

2. Understand it (with your family).

3. Teach it. Start a Constitution study group.

4. Learn about the men who created it. Study the Founding Fathers.

5 Discover the fundamental principles behind it. Read a book.

6. Share what you know in your local community, over the backyard fence or on the front porch.

7. Spread the word. Talk to others.

8. Arm yourselves for debate. Read, read and read some more. Find original source documents.

9. Shore up the American dream. Resist the vast expansion of the federal government.

10. Commit to it. Work to strengthen your family, your church and your community.

‘Iconic Ohio’ cocktails offer tribute to Ohio eateries

By
Toledo Free Press
-
0

An Ohio-based vodka company has concocted three cocktails inspired by legendary Ohio eateries, including Tony Packo’s.

Buckeye Vodka created its “Iconic Ohio” drinks in tribute to Toledo-based Tony Packo’s, Columbus-based White Castle and Cincinnati-based Skyline Chili.

The Buckeye Packo-tini, developed by Ohio company Buckeye Vodka in honor of Toledo-based Tony Packo’s. Photo by Eric Sagun.

“We wanted to honor three incredibly successful Ohio-based food companies, and also have a little bit of fun,” said Jim Finke, CEO of Dayton-based Crystal Spirits LLC, parent company of family-owned Buckeye Vodka, which launched in April 2011.

The drinks — the Buckeye Packo-tini for Tony Packo’s, Buckeye Bacon Slider for White Castle and Buckeye 5-Way for Skyline Chili — were the brainchild of Buckeye Vodka marketing representative Eric Sagun and developed by company mixologist Rachelle Chiarappa.

“They sound terrible, but they are actually really good,” Finke said, laughing.

The Buckeye Packo-tini features dill syrup and Tony Packo’s sweet-hot pickle juice, served in a martini glass with Tony Packo’s pickle slices on a cocktail stick, Chiarappa said.

“Obviously, we wanted to incorporate pickles,” Chiarappa said. “I’m a huge fan of dirty martinis, so we did that with pickles instead of olives. The sweet hits first, followed by the heat and just makes a more complex martini than pickle juice and vodka. It resonates in the different parts of your mouth. Because Buckeye Vodka is made from corn, it has a spicy aftertaste that carries well with that type of flavor.”

The Buckeye Bacon Slider, developed by Ohio company Buckeye Vodka in honor of Columbus-based White Castle. Photo by Eric Sagun.

Chiarappa’s idea for the Buckeye Bacon Slider was to incorporate all the ingredients and garnishes that come on a burger. The drink includes homemade hickory-smoked bacon-infused vodka and seasoned tomato mix served in a tall glass with a sea salt rim, candied bacon strip and cocktail stick featuring a cheese cube, cocktail onion and pickle slice.

“You don’t get overpowered by the bacon, but you can definitely taste it. It enhances the vodka taste and gives you that smell you get at the grill,” Chiarappa said. “I was unsure at first, but trust me, it was delicious. People who like bloody marys would like this drink.”

The Buckeye 5-Way features dark rum and five-spice syrup sweetened with honey and molasses, finished with thin spaghetti as a stir stick. The flavors mirror the restaurant’s chili sauce, which includes spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, Chiarappa said.

The Buckeye 5-Way, developed by Ohio company Buckeye Vodka in honor of Cincinnati-based Skyline Chili. Photo by Eric Sagun.

“People who don’t know Skyline Chili often ask, ‘Why does this smell like cinnamon when it’s supposed to be chili?’ That’s the big Grecian influence,” Chiarappa said. “I took all the spices they use in their chili, but made the drink sweet by pairing them with honey and molasses along with vodka and rum. It’s amazing. This one is my favorite. You think of a gingerbread cookie when you smell this drink.”

Because it’s sweet where the other two are salty, people who drink lime and Coke or Bacardi and diet will like the 5-Way, Chiarappa said.

Chiarappa said it was fun to think outside the box.

“It’s nice because it keeps the focus on the local economy,” Chiarappa said. “Initially I thought we were going to make them as a novelty at best, but when everything turned out, they were actually fantastic.”

Sagun agreed.

“I’ve personally tried all three and was very pleasantly surprised by how good they tasted,” he said.

Chiarappa said she only asks that people try before they judge.

“Definitely keep an open mind and don’t judge a drink by its cover,” Chiarappa said. “Don’t be afraid to try new things, especially if it’s a drink from your city.”

Buckeye Vodka products are sold in about 300 of Ohio’s 450 liquor stores and are available in about 600 Ohio bars and restaurants, Finke said. Toledo Walleye home games last season featured a Buckeye Vodka Shot of the Game.

For more information, visit www.BuckeyeVodka.com.

Buckeye Packo-tini

  • 2.5-ounce Buckeye Vodka
  • 0.5-ounce dill syrup
  • 0.5-ounce Tony Packo’s pickle juice

Shaken and served in a martini glass with Tony Packo’s pickle slices on a cocktail stick.

Buckeye 5-Way

  • 1.5-ounce Buckeye Vodka
  • 1.5-ounce dark rum
  • 1.5-ounce five-spice syrup

Shaken and stirred on the rocks with a small bunch of thin spaghetti as stir stick. To make five-spice syrup (yields about 2.5 cups), grind to a course powder (in a spice or coffee grinder):

  • 5 cardamom pods
  • 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns (or sub a scant teaspoon of pink peppercorns)

Toast ground spices in a skillet until they are fragrant (monitor closely so as not to burn). Bring 2.5 cups of simple syrup to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of molasses and 1 tablespoon of honey. Add spices, simmer for five minutes, then let cool to room temperature. Fine-strain (using sieve) spices out and store syrup in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Buckeye Bacon Slider

  • 1.5-ounce bacon-infused Buckeye Vodka
  • 3-ounce seasoned tomato mix

Shaken and served on the rocks with a smoked sea salt rim, candied bacon strip, cheese cube, cocktail onion and pickle slice on a cocktail stick.

To make bacon-infused vodka, pan fry five to six thick-cut strips of hickory-smoked bacon until crisp. Put the bacon and fat into a jar that seals, then add 4 cups Buckeye Vodka. Make sure lid is secured airtight and store in an area out of direct sunlight (does not require refrigeration). In two weeks, strain the vodka to remove bacon fat and strips (coffee filter works).

To make seasoned tomato mix:

  • 16-ounce tomato juice
  • 1 tablespoon horseradish
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill
  • 1 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • Fresh-ground pepper to taste
  • Worcestershire to taste

Website links area teens with local volunteer work

By
Brigitta Burks
-
0

UGIVE.ORG gives local high school students and nonprofits a way to connect via volunteer opportunities.

The website allows nonprofits to post volunteer opportunities that high-schoolers can then sign up for at no cost. It’s a great tool for high schools that require volunteer hours, said Jamie Baird, youth service outreach coordinator.

“It’s up to the student to go in and find an opportunity and sign up for it. The nonprofit can go in and approve the hours for the student so they can keep track of everything,” Baird said. Teachers can also make certain volunteer opportunities “featured” so they appear more prominently to encourage students to apply.

Baird and Sadi Starmack, both AmeriCorps VISTA workers, recently took over as youth service outreach coordinators for the nonprofit. The last coordinator, Paige Salamin, has been in Toledo for three years.

“I’ve loved every second of it and if AmeriCorps would let me stay in my position, I would. I’m basically timing out,” Salamin said.

The nonprofit is headquartered in Cincinnati and has several locations throughout the state, including in Toledo. Right now, the website is just for high school students, but could expand to college students in the future, Baird said.

This year, the nonprofit is especially pushing literacy tutoring and hopes to get 150 high school kids to be tutors.

“I’ve been a tutor before in high school and college and it’s important to coordinate those activities,” Starmack said.

“A lot of kids who aren’t proficient in reading by third grade are less likely to graduate from high school or graduate from high school on time, so we’re trying to improve the graduation rate,” Baird added.

Volunteering can also offer something to the high schoolers. “Not only are you helping yourself if you’re volunteering, because you are building skills, but it looks great if you’re applying for college or anything like that, but [also] that sense of community is important to a lot of people,” Baird said.

“It’s important for community members to take initiative to make their community a better place instead of just kind of sitting around, waiting to be rescued,” Starmack said.

Another part of UGIVE is UCREW, which gives 30 high school students a chance to develop their own social enterprise and choose their own cause. Last year, the local UCREW raised $1,500 for Cancer Connection of Northwest Ohio through a spaghetti dinner, car wash and bake sales. The program will run from October to February 2013.

“It was a really great experience and I definitely loved meeting some of the people,” said Trevor Walsh, a senior at Lake High School, who did UCREW last school year.

UCREW chose to support Cancer Connection last year because it had helped out one of the group member’s family.

“We are kind of like a family, you could say, in that we bonded kind of closely so we took that on a personal level,” Walsh said.

Walsh also used UGIVE to volunteer at Food for Thought and Sunrise Center.

“UGIVE is a really easy way to find opportunities in the area,” Walsh said. “Youth get the idea that we’re supposed to make an impact when we grow up, when in fact we’re supposed to be making that impact right now.”

For more information, visit UGIVE.org.

Szyperski: The first day of the rest of my life

By
Shannon Szyperski
-
0

Well, they up and did it. All three of my children have actually started spreading their metaphorical wings. Although I knew this day would come, for some reason the knowing didn’t manage to ruin the surprise. I didn’t fully believe it until it actually happened to me.

I now have three kids in school. Granted, Lucy, my youngest, is only there five hours a week, but all three are out of the house at the same time at some point during the week nonetheless. I no doubt feel a little saddened by the realization that we are on the path of no return. Yet, I surprisingly have some other emotions unexpectedly bubbling up to the surface too. I think these emotions can best be expressed with the term “Woohoo!”

That’s right, jubilation. I’m honestly not as excited about the prospect of time to myself as I am about the idea that after almost ten years of mothering I can actually feel some sense of accomplishment. First steps and potting training and one more candle on the birthday cake just didn’t seem to do it for me. Although those things were signs that we were headed for our ultimate goal of autonomy, it is hard to feel accomplished when you’re still up to your elbows in the stress, chaos and dealing with bodily fluids and functions that come along with raising small children.

Guiding three children from womb to outside world is definitely something to celebrate. In fact, it’s been one of my very few goals for quite some time. Get up in the morning, get three children through the day, go to bed, repeat. Over and over and over again until they learn to fly on their own.

Some days have been unbelievably hard. I couldn’t wait until they ended so I could get some sleep and try again the next day. Some days were so sweet and so magical and so full of love and laughter that I never wanted them to end. Ever. Granted there were many, many more of the former than the latter, but that’s just how this occupation goes.

Raising children has, indeed, been a full-time occupation for me, my dream job in fact. Despite the pleas of feminists everywhere, I never truly longed to be anything other than a wife and a mother. I tried several other occupations throughout the years but just couldn’t find one that was challenging enough to build me up, tear me down and demand everything in me to get through a day like motherhood has. It’s eclectic nature and high degree of difficulty have kept me interested and engaged for the long haul (most days anyway).

The biggest downside to motherhood as a primary occupation is that it doesn’t last forever. Yes, once you’re a mother you’re always a mother, of course. However, there comes a point at which you go from being a high-demand, work-around-the-clock full-time staff member to a freelance consultant brought in mainly for special assignments. In an age of “Everyone Should Have and Be Everything Across a Lifetime,” a woman baking and sewing her way through domestic retirement once her nest is empty no longer seems like much of an option. Of course, I’m not even doing those things while my children are living at home, so I suppose it wouldn’t make sense for me to start once they’re off somewhere else.

So, what is one who has made a career of motherhood to do once a few hours open up in her week? Judging by the sea of workout clothing in line at preschool pickup, I am apparently supposed to be exercising. I will definitely take that into consideration, but realizing how quickly I went from having three little ones at home to having three children gone five hours a week leads me to believe that all of my children will be in school full time before I know it (less than two years to be exact).

In light of this, my plan is to start planning. How many of us have the opportunity to take on our dream job at 27 and then have our horizons once again open up at 38? As much as I sometimes dread the thought of a position I already have and love being reorganized, I intend to take on my uncertain future with great aplomb. Truth be told, this is just the first day of the rest of my life.

Race for the Cure to honor two local women

By
Brigitta Burks
-
0
Last year's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure raised about $1 million. Photo Courtesy Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Ingrid Bias was closing a window the night she felt something wrong with her breast tissue.

“Of course, my heart sank because I knew something was seriously wrong,” said the associate minister at Abundant Life Baptist Church.

Ingrid Bias. Photo Courtesy Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Bias had a mammogram and biopsy and learned she had three tumors in her breasts. Within 30 days of her discovery in the summer of 2011, she had a double mastectomy, a second surgery and chemotherapy.

Now in the summer of 2012, her annual MRI has come back clean, she’s on a vegetarian diet and she’s lost 25 pounds. She is also the “In Celebration” honoree for the 19th Annual Northwest Ohio Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The Sept. 30 race takes place Downtown and includes a Survivors Tent and Parade.

The 5K run/walk earned the local Komen affiliate about $1 million last year. Most of that money goes to support grants in the 24-county area the affiliate serves and the rest goes to support research. The affiliate is aiming to have 20,000 participants at its Race for the Cure event this year.

“The Race for the Cure is our primary way of raising revenue,” said Mary Westphal, executive director of the chapter. “It literally means saving lives in the fight against breast cancer right here locally in the community.”

Bias said she is grateful to be the honoree this year, but it “leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth.”

“I pretty much went through hell to be the honoree,” she said. Much of Bias’ treatment was funded by grants from Komen to CareNet.

“We have pretty much worked hand in hand since,” Bias said. “They are a rare group, I must say. Mary and those women talk to me like we’ve been friends for life.”

One of the reasons Bias is passionate about Komen is its support of African-American women. African-American women older than 40 in Northwest Ohio are diagnosed at a significantly lower rate than white women, but their mortality rate is nearly equal, according to Komen.

“Right now, I don’t see anybody else out there saying, ‘What can we do for African-American women? What can we do to keep them alive?’” Bias said.

Bias recently went through training to be a community health adviser to minority women. The training was courtesy of a $1 million grant from KeyBank Foundation and will eventually serve more than 110,000 women.

“Breast cancer is diagnosed every two minutes, and a woman dies of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States,” said Beth E. Mooney, KeyCorp chairman in a news release. “Its impact is especially devastating for women of color, who are more likely to die from breast cancer, and for poor or uninsured women.”

Now Bias makes a point to educate other women on the eight signs of breast cancer and accompanies women to mammograms and treatment.

“If a stranger talks to me too long, it’s gonna come up,” she said. Bias encouraged women to get checked out, especially if they are scared.

“I encourage them to go in. You know why? Because if they’re scared, there’s a reason for it,” she said. Bias also emphasized taking vanity out of the equation.

“When I’m talking about the vanity, in the African-American community, we don’t want to be ostracized for a mastectomy,” she said. “Women have to realize a lot of women have had mastectomies.”

“There’s life after a mastectomy. You can’t make it about somebody else. You have to make it about you,” she said.

Westphal said of Bias, “She is a very strong woman. She’s very inspiring. She’s a woman who has battled breast cancer with grace and style.”

Margaret “Lambie” Guyton Stout. Photo Courtesy Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Margaret “Lambie” Guyton Stout will also be honored at the race. Stout, a mother and businesswoman, died from breast cancer Sept. 11, 2011, at 42.

The race will include a three-quarter-mile “Fun Walk” with mascots and prompts like “hop like bunny,” starting at 10 a.m. There will also be a Kids for the Cure play area at Fifth Third Field. Parental supervision is required.

Online registration is available at komennwohio.org. Registration can also be mailed to 1255 Corporation Drive, P.O. Box 1147, Holland, 43528. On-site registration is available race day at 7:30-9 a.m. at Fifth Third Field. Brondes Ford Maumee will have registration 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 27 and 28 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 29.

The race begins at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 30. The survivor parade is at 8:45 a.m. and the awards ceremony is 10:45 a.m. Race-day registration is $45. Pre-registration is $30 for adults and $20 for those younger than 17. For a map and complete schedule, visit www.komennwohio.org/komen-race-for-the-cure.

Survival Race to bring mud, obstacles to Toledo Sept. 29, 2012

By
Yaneek Smith
-
0
The Survival Race is a family-friendly 5K with obstacles. Photo by Nuvision Action Image.

A three-mile obstacle course filled with slip ’n slides, mud pits and a cargo-net climb? It’s all part of The Survival Race, coming to Toledo on Sept. 29.

Taglined “The Original Family-Style 5K, Obstacle Course & Mud Run,” The Survival Race is a family-friendly event featuring a 5K race filled with obstacles as part of a fun-filled day that usually ends with people covered in mud but having an enjoyable time, said Dean Del Prete.

Del Prete, 48, is president of Cousins Management Group, a paintball company based in Medford, N.Y., that operates The Survival Race. He opened a paintball park in Toledo five years ago and chose the city as a destination for this event.

The Survival Race has taken place in a number of other locations this season, among them Dallas, New Windsor, N.Y., Manchester, N.J., and Long Island, and finishes the season with the festivities in Toledo.

Del Prete said Survival Race is growing in popularity.

“The first thing is, the race is really fun,” he said. “People get out there and have a good time. It’s more about completing the event than competing. The people range from the athletic to adventurous to the couch potato that wants to have fun.

“[People] want to challenge themselves, they want to have fun, have a laugh. No one takes [the event] too serious. We don’t make the obstacles too challenging. Everything has a bail-out, so if you get sick doing the event, you can stop. It’s more about fun than anything else.”

Del Prete will have a group of five to six employees on site helping to coordinate the event, and will rely on an assorted group of volunteers and workers to help the race run smoothly.

The event, which takes place at 8721 Airport Hwy., in Holland, costs $60. Runners will leave in 30-minute waves between  9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration ends Sept. 26. Spectators are welcome.

Del Prete said more than 1,800 applicants hailing from Columbus to Grand Rapids, Mich., have signed up and he  expects that number to climb to roughly 2,200 by race day. He said the event helps local businesses for the weekend.

“The hotels and restaurants are gonna love it,” he said. “I hire local bands and a local brewer is going to be supplying beer. It’s gonna be great for business.”

Del Prete is not only confident the event will be a success, but that it will grow in the years to come. In Dallas, 800 people showed up for the event in 2011 and the number grew to 2,700 this year, he said.

Del Prete knows a thing or two about simple ideas growing from something minor into a successful industry and believes that, over time, the same will happen with events like Survival Race.

“I was one of the pioneers with paintball,” Del Prete said. “I played [years ago] and I knew it would take off. And that’s what is happening with this mud race. This is a game-changer. With the [wide-ranging] demographics, the potential here is so much greater.”

Although comparisons have been made between The Survival Race and Warrior Dash, and there are some similarities, Del Prete notes that his mud run is much more family friendly.

“I didn’t want this to be like the Warrior Dash,” he said. “I wanted it to be my own thing. I thought, ‘How do I differentiate myself? Why can’t I have the family race? Why can’t I be the 9-99 age group?’ It’s like the Warrior Dash, but their demographic is different. Theirs is more of the party animal and college crowd variety. Our course is easier and we’re more family oriented. That’s something that we pride ourselves in.

“We’re not gonna be the strongest, toughest event. … We’re fun; we’re not fierce. It’s not perfect for everybody, but for us, it works.”

For more information, details and pictures of previous races, visit thesurvivalrace.com or www.facebook.com/TheSurvivalRace.

UT receiver draws comparisons to Eric Page

By
Nate Pentecost
-
0
University of Toledo wide receiver Bernard Reedy, shown here in 2011, is often compared to former teammate Eric Page. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi, Courtesy The Independent Collegian

Bernard Reedy hears it every day on his way to class. He hears it all the time around Toledo. He has even heard it a few times while pumping gas.

As the University of Toledo junior wide receiver admits, there is simply no escaping the comparison between himself and former teammate Eric Page.

“We both do similar things, so I just kind of laugh and smile when I hear it,” Reedy said with a grin. “It makes me feel good though because Eric is a great player.”

From their reserved, soft-spoken demeanor, their shifty return moves and crisp route running, down to their stature — both are 5-foot-9 — the similarities are striking.

Bernard Reedy. Photo by Vincent D. Scebbi, courtesy The Independent Collegian.

In fact, Toledo head coach Matt Campbell, the pair’s offensive coordinator from 2009-11, struggled to find any dissimilarities between the two.

“Maybe the only difference is a little bit of speed,” Campbell said. “Bernard has that extra gear he can kick into.”

Though Reedy saw action his freshman year (five catches for 32 yards and eight rushes for 35 yards and two touchdowns) he emerged as the complementary receiver to Page in 2011.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., native finished second on the team behind UT’s all-time leading receiver with 40 catches, 758 yards and nine touchdowns, providing the one-two punch the Rockets lacked at receiver since Stephen Williams, now playing for the Arizona Cardinals, graduated in 2009.

Reedy capped off his sophomore year with the best performance of his collegiate career, hauling in four passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns to garner MVP honors in Toledo’s 42-41 Military Bowl victory over Air Force.

For a brief time after the bowl season, it appeared Reedy and Page would be the primary weapons for the prohibitive favorite to win the Mid-American Conference in 2012.

In January, however, Page chose to forgo his senior year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft and Reedy was thrust into the No. 1 wideout spot on the depth chart.

Reedy said he is confident in his ability to fill the role and that has translated on the field by way of a team-high 19 receptions, 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns through three games this season.

He credits his preparedness, in part, to Page for showing him the way.

“He’s a hard worker. He does everything quietly, but he does everything right,” Reedy said. “Doing the small things right lets you do the big things right. That’s why he made so many big plays and had so much success here.”

Reedy, unsurprisingly, has adopted Page’s lead-by-example approach as well.

“I’ve never really been the vocal type,” Reedy said. “I just try to go out and do the right thing so the younger guys can follow me.”

So far, so good.

 

PechaKucha Night Sept. 28 to feature artists, advocates

By
Brigitta Burks
-
0
More than 100 people attended Toledo's second PechaKucha Night in June 2012. Photo by Rineil Mandre

The third Toledo PechaKucha Night will feature slide shows galore — at least 10 different presentations, each with 20 slides allotted 20 seconds each.

Doors open 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) Glass Pavilion. The free event features a cash bar and light snacks.

“[PechaKucha is] used for artists, designers, people that are advocating for anything and everything,” said event organizer Kimberly Adams.

PechaKucha began in Tokyo in 2003 as a way for young designers to share their ideas.

“They started it for architects, because the architects tended to be a little long-winded when they were presenting their designs so they kind of shortened that format for them,” Adams said. Now the nights occur in more than 500 cities all over the world and Tokyo itself has had about 100 PechaKucha Nights.

Adams, founder of Tart Projects, an artists’ platform, also organized Toledo’s first PechaKucha Night, which took place March 31 at Manhattan’s and the second, which was June 12 at the Toledo-Lucas County Main Library. She recently moved back to Ohio after living in Tampa, Fla., where she first observed PechaKucha.

“I’d been to a couple in Tampa and they were really well put-together so I just thought it’d be great to happen here,” Adams said.

More than 100 people attended the last event. “It was really well-received. A lot of people were like, ‘Let us know when the next one is. We’ll be there,’” Adams said.

“This time, we focused on arts and nonprofits so what’s going on in the area, just to inform the public what’s going on,” she added.

A representative from TMA’s Circle 2445 group, which tries to engage young adults with the museum, reached out to help with the event and offer space, Adams said, adding she is excited about the “really cool venue.”

Organizing PechaKucha is getting easier, she said.

“The more [people] see it, they’re like, ‘I can totally do this. I’ll present at the next one,’” Adams said. “A lot of people have hesitation about public speaking. … You just don’t have time to worry about it. You just get up there and do your thing and before you know it, it’s over.”

Rachel Richardson, Art Corner Toledo founder, was one of the hesitant.

“I went to the first two and I realized what a positive event it was,” she said. “I got over myself.”

The rapid-fire format excites Richardson.

“I personally have a short attention span, so the fact that I know the person is going to touch on the most interesting stuff makes me sit still and listen,” she said.

Richardson said she plans to present on the birth and evolution of Art Corner Toledo, a group that nurtures artists and activists.

Ken Leslie, founder of 1Matters, an advocacy group for the homeless, will also present. The format doesn’t intimidate Leslie.

“I’m not afraid at all. I relish the opportunity to share the bigger picture of the work that we’re doing,” he said. He said he will focus on collaborative efforts of the community and misconceptions about the homeless.

He expects his presentation to be humorous but also touching.

Leslie also said he is looking forward to Richardson’s presentation.

“She is one of those unsung heroes that’s doing a lot to change the face, the physical face of our community,” he said.

Adams will present in addition to Dustin Hostetler of Circle 2445, Amber LeFever of LeSo Gallery, Bradley Scherzer of Toledo on the Map, Sadi Starmack and Jamie Baird of UGIVE.ORG, Nicole Tarver of The One Story Project, glass artist Brien Strancar and architect Paul Sullivan.

After September’s event, the next PechaKucha night is set for January. Another sponsor is needed for September. For more information, visit pecha-kucha.org/night/toledo.

Six area businesses honored for excellence

By
Jeff
-
0

Six area businesses were recently announced as this year’s Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame (EBE HOF) honorees.

Honored for business excellence are Burkett Restaurant Equipment, based in Toledo; Clouse Construction Corp., based in New Riegel; NovaVision Inc., based in Bowling Green; and Riker Products, based in Toledo. Mel Lanzer Company, based in Napoleon, is honored for excellence in family business. Solar Spectrum LLC is honored for excellence in startup innovation.

The companies will be inducted during a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at The Pinnacle, 1772 Indian Wood Circle, in Maumee. Tickets are $85. The Davenport-Longenecker Lifetime Achievement Award for Business Advocacy will be announced at the event.

The EBE HOF, presented by the University of Toledo, recognizes entrepreneurs who have built and sustained growing businesses and created jobs in the region as well as businesses that display technological innovation, said Adam Davenport, EBE HOF chairman and president of Gorillas & Gazelles, founding sponsor of the event.

“We’re really excited,” Davenport said. “We have a few construction companies, a restaurant supplier, solar once again through the University of Toledo, an automotive supplier, a security label manufacturer. There’s just a lot of diverse industries represented this year.”

Gary Frye, president and CEO of Riker Products, said, “We feel very, very honored to receive this award.”

Riker Products, which has been in business since the late 1940s and employs about 180 people, buys and bends tubing for use in heavy-duty exhaust systems and sells its products to trucking, mining and agricultural companies worldwide. Frye has been with the company for more than 40 years, starting as a laborer while still in high school and working his way to head of the company.

Mike Messmer, vice president and general manager of NovaVision, said the company is honored.

“One person could not do what we’re doing and the fact that we can grow is because we have such an excellent team,” Messmer said.

Founded in 1994, NovaVision has about 45 employees and specializes in technologies that provide anti-counterfeiting and anti-tampering features, including hologram labels, tamper-evident stickers, security tape, security seals and more. Its products are used worldwide, including by federal and state governments, military, airlines, ski resorts and collectibles dealers, Messmer said.

More than 700 people attended last year’s ceremony, Davenport said.

“It’s just a breath of fresh air to see that so many people will come out and support an event like this that showcases some of the inspiration stories and companies around this area,” Davenport said. “One thing we’re told is it’s an inspiration to many people out there that there are a lot of great things happening around here.”

Visit www.ebehof.com for more.

Burkett Restaurant Equipment
Jameel Burkett is the youngest of the six Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame award winners by decades, but he believes his youth in no way indicates a lack of experience.

After graduating from the University of Toledo in 2002, Burkett went to work for Owens Corning but left a year later when his father, Mike Burkett, founder of Burkett Restaurant Equipment, asked his son to join him and help expand the family business.

“We were just a local retail facility that sold about 80 percent used, 20 percent new equipment when I first started,” Burkett, president and CEO, said. “Since then, we have branched out and we have three separate sales divisions now: a retail center, an Internet division and a contract and project division. The retail division includes a remodeled show-room that promotes new equipment.

“I knew that in growing the business, we weren’t going to be able to grow it to the level we wanted to get to by promoting used first,” Burkett said. “If you promote new first, you’re attracting customers that want new, and then you offer used as a choice where you can save people money if they want to.”

The Internet division began with an eBay store in 2004 while Burkett built the company’s internal website, which launched in 2005.The contract and project division, which handles government contracts, new construction and chain accounts, was launched in early 2008.

And then, in October 2008, “When the market crashed, the phones just stopped ringing,” Burkett said. “Everything stopped. But then in March 2009,we landed a sizable seven-figure government contract through a joint venture partnership with another dealer that really got us back on track. That really accelerated the contract and project division.

“And then, in 2010, when the government was giving money to the school districts to spend on upgrading their kitchens as part of the stimulus package, we doubled our business between March and April of 2010.”

Burkett said he is humbled to be a recipient of the Business Excellence Award.

“The recognition is allowing people to see what we’ve actually done. And if people really want to support local and stay local, I think that they have to feel confident in their local companies. And an award like this builds the confidence of the peoplewe do business with and allows people not doing business with us to learn about us.”

Clouse Construction Corp.

After studying at Tiffin University in the early 1970s, Lenny Clouse, a New Riegel native, left college to go to work for a custom home builder.

“I always loved to do construction-type work growing up,” Clouse said. “I had some natural talent, I believe, from my mother’s family [the Kauffmans]. Many of them were in the trades —masons, carpenters, that type of construction work. I felt it was a good way to provide for a family.”

Three-and–a-half years later, in 1975, Clouse went to work for himself.

Now, 37 years and 65 employees later, Clouse and his wife Lynn operate Clouse Construction Corp., a Northwest Ohio company honored Nov. 8 with the Business Excellence Award from the EBE HOF.

Clouse, 59, said he was honored when Mike Reser, a friend from Tiffin, nominated his construction company for the award.

“I am a common-type person, a very hard worker who runs a company that keeps our word,” Clouse said. “We follow through.

“We care about the people who work for us, the customers we’re working for, and how the project ends up. We want it to be a good value for long-term service of the project. And we’re always concerned about taking care of our employees. We try to take care of them and make sure they can have the best lives available.”

Clouse said he takes pride in operating “a very diversified” company that works for religious, educational, agricultural and financial banking groups. The company also does factory maintenance work.

Clouse attributed surviving the recent downturn in the economy to that diversification.

“I could kind of feel the economy coming to a head, so we got rolling a couple of years before it did,” he said. “We’ve always tried to be ahead of the curve, and we developed all different kinds of business customers over the years.”

In 2006, Clouse started another branch of his company he called STOP — Service Team of Professionals. That branch of the company does fire restoration, mold remediation, and chemical and flooding cleanup at private homes and businesses.

“The No. 1 thing that always set us apart is that we always cared,” Clouse said. “We always cared for our customers and our employees, and we want to give back. I want to make our business, our country, our state better than what it has been in the past; a better place to live, work and worship.”

Mel Lanzer Company

Charlotte Zgela and her husband enjoyed working at her father’s business in Napoleon during their 1981 summer vacations from their teaching jobs in Mansfield so much that they gave up their careers as educators to join his team.

Thirty-one years later, on behalf of her father, mother, and brother, Zgela accepted the Excellence in Family Business Award Nov. 8 for the MelL anzer Company from the Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame.

“It says a lot in how my fa-ther (Mel Lanzer) started the company,” Zgela, 57, said. “He is proud of the work he did, and he encouraged my brother (Matt Lanzer) and me just by taking us out on Sunday drives.

“That was our thing we did on Sundays growing up. We used to go to the job sites all the time. Not that we really wanted to go, but my mom (Marge Lanzer) would say, ‘Come on, I’ll get an ice cream cone afterward.’

“And that inspired us. It was that love. It was that drive my father had that inspired my brother and me to get into the business and make it what it is today. When I took over, our sales were maybe $3 million, $4 million a year. Now, we’re a $20 million a year company.

“And it all goes back to the family and the values my father instilled in us, and the compassion we have for our job. We worry about those people under us. We worry about our customers. That’s what makes us a little different — we care how our customers feel about the finished product.”

Mel Lanzer started the business building single-family homes in the early 1950s, but was forced to refocus from housing to commercial construction in 1955 when the postwar housing boom began to decline.

Zgela and Matt faced that same obstacle in October 2008 after the market crash. They have geared the construction company toward theretail industry, remodeling as a Wal-Mart certified contractor, doing school construction with Ohio Schools Facility Commission projects as well as higher education new construction like the $4.5 million NCAA-regulation track and field house for Defiance College, and construction management.

“Since we’ve been in business for such a long time, and done so many different types of construction, there’s not too many things people can throw at us that we haven’t seen before,” Matt Lanzer, 45,said. “We’re able to get a pretty good grip on almost all types of construction. It’s nice to have that much experience behind us.”

NovaVision, Inc.

After a 24-year career with Owens Corning, Mike Messmer joined forces with Al Caperna in 1998 to help commercialize Caperna’s patented hologram technology and transform NovaVision, Inc. from a small-town printing business in Bowling Green into an international company with $7.6 million in sales revenue in 2011, up 40 percent from 2010.

As partners, Messmer and Caperna have built a large and diverse group of customers, shipping product to 25 countries outside the U.S.

“What re-ally changed the business is when we began to market our products on the Internet [in 2003],” Messmer said. “Within about six months, it went from calling customers to the customers starting to call us.”

Messmer said 2011 was unique because, after acquiring a competitor from New York, the company hired 15 of its 45 employees, increasing its workforce 50 percent in just 12 months.

“And we’ll do real well this year too, more in sales because we hired the people in anticipation of growing again this year,” Messmer said. “We made the commitment last year to hire and train people knowing that the growth was coming.”

In recognition of that success, Caperna, a former Business Excellence Award winner from the Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame who is no longer active in the day-to-day operation of NovaVision, nominated his partner for the 2012 honor.

“I’m honored that we were recognized,” Messmer, 62, said. “But I am just one person, and I think it’s not only a reflection on me, but it’s really an honor for the entire team.”

Messmer said product innovation, Internet savvy and enticing the customer to buy the product is the essence of what NovaVision has done exceptionally well.

Messmer also believes “we’re very good at helping ordinary people do extraordinary things. Our culture here is different. We try to make it that it’s OK to make mistakes, and it’s OK to try new things and it’s OK to treat a customer fantastic.”

Riker Products

When Walter Riker opened Riker Products “way back in the late 1940s, no one had any money,” said Gary Frye, 62, current president and chief executive officer.

“There was a main truck line going from Detroit to Toledo, and they would stop in here. They couldn’t afford to buy a muffler or an exhaust pipe, so old Walter Riker would weld up theirs, repair it. In the wintertime, he would actually load his welder up in the back of a pickup truck, reverse current, and thaw people’s pipes that froze in the wintertime.”

Frye started working for Riker in 1968 as a 17-year-old student at Libbey High School.

“I didn’t plan on staying 44 years,” Frye said. “It just worked out that way.”

Frye now operates a successful business in North Toledo with 168 employees that services Class 8 trucks, including Macks, Volvos, and Internationals.

Frye said Riker Products is still struggling to recover from the market crash about five years ago when his business fell 60 percent.

“You get lean. You get real lean,” Frye said. “You cut costs. You get as lean as you can and you just try to survive. We did it. We did very well.”

In recognition of the tenacity and business savvy that led to that survival, Jeremy Zeisloft, vice president, commercial relationship manager at Huntington Bank, nominated Frye for the Business Excellence Award from the Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame, an honor Frye will receive Nov. 8.

Although he would like to grow the business, Frye said that “We’re still stagnant. We’re certainly a long way from coming out of the slump. We just need to get down and dirty, get competitive and win market share, and the best way to do that is to fine tune processes. That means don’t work harder, work smarter.”

Despite the recognition that comes with the Business Excellence Award, Frye said the public “will never know our company because it’s not a glamorous business. But it is a successful business, a well-run business that employees 168 good, good people.”

Solar Spectrum LLC

At a time when most men are enjoying their retirement years, Charles Tomita has embarked on a new adventure. Tomita, who spent his career working as an electromagnetism scientist for Northrop Grumman Corp. in El Segundo, Calif., began his second career Nov. 1 when he went to work full-time at Solar Spectrum.

The startup business manufactures the coating that will be applied to transparent solar windows at the University of Toledo Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (UT-PVIC).

Tomita and his partner, Richard McClary, a particle physicist, started Solar Spectrum in 2005.

“Dr. McClary came running into my office,” Tomita said. “[He said] ‘I want to share this idea with you. Do you think it will work?’

“It was an idea called ‘photon trapping’ on how to drastically improve the efficiency of solar cells. We spent a year digging into it. After that year,we decided this could be real.”

Tomita, Solar Spectrum’s chief executive officer, will receive the Startup Innovation Idea Award at the Entrepreneurial & Business Excellence Hall of Fame awards ceremony.

Tomita, in his early 70s, is optimistic that Solar Spectrum will be a success because its product “is something every building needs.

“Our product coats the windows,and we should revolutionize the whole building industry of the future. We don’t have to tie into the major power grids or feed back into the grid. We generate electricity, and this is a new paradigm on the future buildings of the world, not just the U.S., but of the world.

“And I made one informal promise to the university. We are going to concentrate on U.S.-built, U.S.-made panels, U.S.-made glass in the State of Ohio. That is our pledge.”

Business profiles by John P. McCartney, Toledo Free Press staff writer.

1...244245246...297Page 245 of 297