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Community vigil for Massey

By
Lori King
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Anika S. Fields and her son Asa, 11, attend the community vigil for Sonya Massey, a black woman killed by a white police officer in Illinois. The vigil also included other groups supporting Palestine, murdered children and human rights.

Activists inspire citizens to take a stand, call out police violence and injustice

TOLEDO – As half a dozen people lingered around a table littered with protest buttons, event flyers and The Final Call newspapers, Brother Washington Muhammad took the opportunity to announce what was going to be discussed during a community vigil for Sonya Massey, a black woman shot in the face by a white police officer in her Illinois home last month.

Washington Muhammad leads the community vigil at Junction Park.

“The things we are going to say today aren’t normally said. We get criticized for speaking about the police. We get criticized for speaking about the rights of the Palestinians and for talking about anything folks believe we should shut up about,” he told them.

“And we get criticized when we talk about our children that have been murdered. This is not the place where we’re going to minimize our words or our spirit, alright? If we wanted to do that, we would just watch CNN and be done with it. So, that’s the spirit we’re going with today, with love, and that’s why I pulled all of you here.”

While Muhammad, co-founder of the Community Solidarity Response Network of Toledo (CSRNT), held their attention, Khadijah Cunningham stood nearby and lit a single white candle to symbolize hope and healing.

When asked why she came to the event, Cunningham said she was “a black person in America who is not happy with my people being slaughtered.”

The community vigil not only memorialized Massey but was intended for citizens to take a stand, rise up and call out police violence and injustice within the community, explained Muhammad. Speakers represented the American Muslims for Palestine, the Northwest Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, the New Order Human Rights Organization, and the Media Decompression Collective (MDC).

Muhammad began the vigil with a collective chant: “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and protect each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

He went on to say that not only are they memorializing Massey, but there are also international aspects of the fight for freedom and revolutionaries, specifically of what’s happening in Gaza, which is a “thumbnail of what’s going to happen to us here, so if we’re silent on Gaza then they will expect us to be silent here.”

Wearing a shirt with the country of Africa imprinted on the front and a baseball hat supporting Palestine, speaker Amjad Doumani, founder of MDC, said he was honored and proud to stand amongst his brothers and sisters behind him and in front of him because all of their struggles, be they here in Toledo, throughout this country or throughout the world.

“There’s a common struggle, a class struggle, where people need to throw off the shackles of colonialism and imperialism and how it oppresses us everywhere,” he said to about 20 people who showed up to listen, support each other and vent.

“Israel is about to attack Palestinian areas and bomb them to death. They dropped leaflets telling the Palestinians ‘we’re concerned about you so we want you to move from this section to this section and over there.’ But what ends up happening is they bombed them where they moved to, so they lied to them just the way the police are lying to us here,” Kanaan said.

“Our struggles are interconnected, and we all live with the generational trauma of our ancestors, you know,” added Walaa Kanan, American Muslims for Palestine Toledo chapter board member.  

“There is not anything you don’t know enough about – we can continue to uplift one another by educating ourselves, becoming more articulate, learning those talking points, but we have to start somewhere.  We can’t start if we continue to gaslight ourselves because that is what they want you to feel – powerless,” she said.

The greatest way of giving up your power is just recognizing that you don’t have it,” Kanan continued. “So, while I find myself sitting in really deep grief at this time, I also find myself deeply optimistic because I think this is the generation that is going to make a difference because we have learned to stop listening to those in power.

“I urge you to wake up tomorrow and realize the power you have and connect with other community members and help us in this fight to make a difference.”

Another speaker who stepped up to the mic was Siti Dotson-Chambers, of the New Order National Human Rights org. She didn’t mince words.

“Today, I just stand and ask that you continue to fight the fight. When we have these rallies and we come out, continue to bring other people with you. I mean, it’s no reason this place shouldn’t be surrounded right now with all of the stuff that’s going on right here in Toledo.

Siti Dotson-Chambers

“When you can have an officer calling a woman a fat wench, which is a derogatory term, and nothing really happens – a slap on the wrist. So, first I called you a fat wench; then I stopped you and give you a ticket for walking in the street; then I let my dog bite you. I shoot you with rubber bullets when you peacefully, peacefully decided to speak out, and then I kill you,” she said, making her point.

“When we call them for help, even though they have a CIT department, they still shoot and kill those with mental health, so today we stand in solidarity with each other because you don’t have to look like me to stand up. We need to come together in the city of Toledo, although it’s happening nationwide … but we don’t want it to happen here,” said Dotson-Chambers.

In a press release for the event posted on their Facebook page, Muhammad wrote that CSRN intends to search for answers and ask the difficult questions regarding local law enforcement.

About 20 people listened as speakers call out police violence and injustice within the community.

Daily Dose | The Humorist

By
Don Lee
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Happy Jeep Fest Day, Jeepsters!

Wild Side | The Goldfinch

By
Art Weber
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A male goldfinch balances itself atop the heavily-flowered stem of dense blazing-star while its mate feeds further down the stalk. (TFP Photo/Art Weber)

Time for goldfinches to nest in meadows, prairies

American goldfinches look and act like the happiest birds of our summer meadows and prairies.

It starts with the bright yellow plumage of the male goldfinch that literally glows, seemingly more so in contrast to its rich black wing bars, forehead and tail. Active and acrobatic, these small birds even seem to have fun as they flit above our meadows and prairies in an undulating fashion, their flight noticeably rising and dipping in synch with alternating wing flaps and glides.

The female, though beautiful in her own way, is dressed down a bit, presumably to be more camouflaged in her role as nest builder and in laying and incubating the eggs. The male’s role is to bring her food – the goldfinch diet is almost exclusively seeds — as she sits on the eggs. His role will get much larger with the responsibility of feeding the nestlings after they hatch.

Most of our nesting birds have already completed the task of raising their broods, but now is goldfinch time. They wait until about now to nest because is the best time for the plants of our meadows and prairies – thistles, blazing-stars, thistle and others – to produce the seeds the goldfinch prefer.

In the image, a male goldfinch balances itself atop the heavily-flowered stem of dense blazing-star while its mate feeds further down the stalk. Dense blazing-star is among the common wildflowers native to our tall-grass prairies.

Text and photos by Art Weber, Metroparks Toledo nature photographer

Plight of the Homewrecker

By
Steven J Athanas
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The Jell-o band, inspired by The Beatles.

The bite of the bug(s) influenced local boy to become future rock star

I have no plans to make this column a chronological endeavor – my grey matter doesn’t really work that way. Having said that, I do feel compelled to offer those who choose to read this column a bit of background and how it is that I came to put all my eggs in the basket of attempting to become a rock star.

I do not have enough fingers and toes to count the number of arguments my father and I got into on this topic. The cliched “Get a real job!” spewed from his mouth over and over again, starting in high school and continuing into my early adulthood. And don’t get me wrong, my father was an intelligent man, just set in his ways – not really very broad-minded. And I truly believe, in hindsight, that he had my best intentions at heart.

All three of my brothers seemed to eventually have taken my dad’s advice, though, and to their credit, are financially successful today. It was I, the lone Pisces, who became obsessed with the visual arts and music and became the black sheep of the clan. Three out of four ain’t bad, I guess.

But yeah, it’s always been a challenge to pay the bills. Vacations? Fuggedaboutit. Retirement plan? HA! IRA? What’s that? For the most part, though, I have lived the life I’ve wanted, making a lot of art and music for seven decades, and depending what day of the week you should ask me, I don’t think I would’ve had it any other way. I have an inclination toward the arts, and believe that the world would be a dismal, dull, flat entity without the simultaneous beauty and cacophony that they offer.

The r’n’r bug hit me early, at the spry age of 4-5 years old. My mother (unlike my pop) encouraged my brothers and I to be creative, to find our muse. By buying us records and exposing us to the culture that would be a way of life, she was our hero. Hell, she even bought us all the hippie clothes (bell bottoms, paisley, polka dots, etc,) in the ‘60s. A true enabler, eh?

And not unlike so many others of my generation, it really started with those four dudes from Liverpool. I cannot tell you how much John, Paul, George and Ringo changed/directed my life – for better or worse. Who’s to say? Even my dad couldn’t stop that!

My Dad worked for the C&O railroad and when I was in the sixth grade, he was transferred to Russell, Ky., a real shithole of a town. The house we rented was a dilapidated disaster. Cockroaches, walls you could easily put your fist through, stench – it was bad. But it was there that my brother Dave and I watched the Ed Sullivan show on Feb. 9, 1964. It changed my life, truly.

As I recall, we had one friend in Russell, and though I don’t remember his name, I still recall that he looked a lot like an infant W.C. Fields. All three of us hung out after school, in large part due to The Beatles. Subliminally, there was something scratching at my soul, brought on by this band, but I was in middle school, unaware of most of the outside world – what could I do? I had no inclination whatsoever that I would someday be fronting my own bands.

So, the three of us started a Beatles Club. In that club we would come together in one of our parents’ houses and we’d draw pictures of the band. At that point we didn’t even have any of their music. There were Beatles’ bubblegum trading cards, and we’d trade the cards then draw the pictures. I also learned how to sign/forge the Fab Four’s signatures, which were printed on the cards. I would often sign my school work with one of their names. What a nerd!

Occasionally my family would come back to Toledo to visit the grandparents. Pack up the Chevy II, put the dogs in the trunk (!) and hit the road. I’ll never forget those journeys and the stench of the paper factories as we drove through Chillicothe, a smell of old cabbage and chemicals, as well as the early shards of teenage angst, as we pleaded with my dad to put some R’n’R on the scritchy AM radio.

It was one Easter (‘65?) that I had earned an allowance of $10, a substantial sum for me. Thinking of nothing but Beatles, I took that money, posthaste, to the corner record store, which was called Kaufman Bros on Central Ave. It was a great place, with albums, 45s and reel-to-reel tapes (I still can’t wrap my head around buying/playing albums in that way). They also had listening booths, where you could try out the music before you bought it.

Without any hesitation, a 12-year-old on an inspired mission, I plopped my wrinkled $10 bill on the counter and was the immediate proud owner of “Meet The Beatles! The First Album by England’s Phenomenal Pop Combo.” Though I was ecstatic, I knew my grandparents didn’t have any sort of stereo equipment, so as difficult as it was, I had to wait till I got back to Russell, armpit of America, to put the needle down and immerse myself in Beatlemania.

It did happen, though, and there was absolutely no turning back from there.

Meet Coach Ginny Boggess

By
Steven Bieber
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New UToledo women's basketball head coach Ginny Boggess and her team thank nearly 200 fans for showing up to watch the first open practice of the season at Savage Arena on July 30. (TFP Photo/Lori King)

UToledo women’s basketball debuts new head coach, players

TOLEDO – A new season entered its infancy on Tuesday when The University of Toledo women’s basketball team held an open practice in Savage Arena to offer the crowd of devoted Rocket fans their first glimpse of the 2024-25 season. The fans witnessed players shooting around and participating in a series of drills.

The open practice served as the first step in the team’s attempt to repeat the success of the last three seasons, then coached by Tricia Cullop, who left for Miami last season after 16 years.

The Rockets come into this season as the defending regular season champions, finishing with a 17-1 record in conference play and a 28-6 record overall. Last season they ended with a heartbreaking 63-61 loss to Washington State in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.

Cullop ended her tenure as the team’s head coach when it was announced that she would become the new women’s basketball coach for the University of Miami Hurricanes. With her departure, the university needed someone new to take the helm.

Guard/forward Nan Garcia and head coach Ginny Boggess share a laugh during open practice.

Ginny Boggess was hired as the women’s head basketball coach on April 9, 2024. Boggess served as the head coach of Monmouth University for the past three seasons, leading the team to an NCAA tournament appearance in her second season, after taking over for a two-win program.

After only living in Toledo for a few months, she says the city already feels like home, given how welcoming everyone has been. “It’s an awesome city, there is a lot to do, there’s a lot of amazing restaurants, I’m really enjoy it.”

In an early look at how her players perform on the court, Boggess praised her team for their work ethic, toughness and discipline. She also discussed how her players are coming together as a team, and hopes to carry over her winning culture from Mammoth University and continue the pursuit of excellence.

You can see their bond and their chemistry starting to build, that’s an important part of the summer. I’m just absolutely impressed with the tradition and culture.

Jenny Boggess

Toledo women’s basketball has always recruited players from all over the country and the world, but it has also found local talent in the Toledo Area.

Freshman Kendall Braden is the newest Toledoan to join the Rockets after spending her high school years playing at Toledo Christian. After meeting with Boggess and her staff, Braden decided that UT was the right fit. Braden discussed the challenges of transition from high school to college basketball.

Kendall Braden

“The pace has been the biggest challenge for me, just because I’m playing with a lot of girls who have a lot of experience and love basketball as much as I do,” she said.

Kendall Carruthers, a sophomore from Holland, Ohio, will also make her debut as a Toledo Rocket this year after transferring from St. Francis (Pa.), where she was awarded NEC Rookie of the Year, First Team All-NEC and NEC All-Rookie Team. She explained that she wanted to play at a higher level, and to come back home and play in front of her friends and family.

Sammi Mikonowicz, a graduate student from Rossford, Ohio, aims to help continue the Rocket’s winning traditions and strives for a fourth conference championship.

“I think there’s no reason we can’t do another one. That’s probably one of the biggest things, and trying to get back to the NCAA tournament – that was a great time.”

Mikonowicz also said she wants to have fun for one more year and enjoy the sport she loves.

Toledo held their open practice in front of nearly 200 of their most dedicated fans. After seeing the Rockets in action for the first time, some attendees, like Mary Lou, who has been cheering on the women’s basketball team for 28 years, liked what they saw on Tuesday.

“They have a lot of energy; they seem to get along well; they congratulate each other; they support each other; they like the coach and the coaches,” she observed.

Lou also said that, so far, she likes what she sees from Boggess. “I think she’s got a lot of energy, and I’ve never seen these players move this fast.

”The Rockets will open their season on Nov. 4, against Marshall, the defending Sun Belt women’s basketball champion, Marshall.

Paddle & Groove concerts

By
Scott Grau
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Participants float in the river in their kayaks around the pontoon boat that is carrying the musicians during the inaugural Black Swamp Conservancy Paddle and Groove concert series on the Maumee River. (TFP Photo/Scott W. Grau)

TOLEDO – Black Swamp Conservancy has launched Paddle and Groove, a new concert series that takes place on the Maumee River.

A band playing on a pontoon boat will traverse the Maumee River while kayakers follow as they listen to the music.  Concerts are scheduled through September, one Wednesday per month, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Tickets are required for each concert.

The first Paddle and Groove concert kicked off in July and featured Shamarr Allen, a New Orleans trumpet player and his band. The inaugural event had 68 registered participants.

On Aug. 14: Charlie Millard Band, a keyboard-driven trio from northern Michigan

On Sept. 11:Cleveland-based Ben Gage Band, featuring original folk-rock music

Those wanting to participate can rent kayaks from Maumee Tackle for $45, or bring their own boats for $15.

For additional information visit the Paddle and Groove website. 

Black Swamp Conservancy is a land trust dedicated to protecting natural areas and family farms, now and for future generations, through land conservation agreements.

Shoe Fest donates to kids

By
Laurie Bertke
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Volunteer Barb Pedigo helps Teven Brent Jr. try on a new pair of socks. (TFP Photo by Laurie Bertke)

Shoe giveaway helps kids start school on the right foot

TOLEDO – Tequilla Walker said her husband arrived by 5 a.m. to nab a spot at the front of the line for Shoe Fest, an annual event in East Toledo that provides free shoes to children. By the time she joined him with their seven grandchildren 150 minutes later, the line of families already stretched down the block of Sixth St., in front of Helping Hands of St. Louis on July 27.

Their diligence paid off a little after 8 a.m. when a round of applause from a crowd of volunteers welcomed the family as the first customers of the day. Filing into a row of folding chairs, the children sat down across from smiling volunteers who gently washed their feet in buckets of soapy water. After drying them off, the volunteers helped each child try on a new pair of socks and tennis shoes.

This year, the event’s organizers were prepared to give away 1,600 pairs of shoes from toddler size 10 to adult size 10 in three hours — double the number they had on hand last year.

While they worked, the helpers chatted with the children about their summers and the upcoming school year. Many were rewarded with beaming smiles, hugs and even a few tears of joy from their young customers, some of whom have never owned new shoes.

Most of our kids that are coming here are coming from the lowest economic with the highest challenges, and we just want to help them be ready for school,

Charlotte Perlaky, an event organizer

Shoes are one of the most expensive back-to-school items for families to purchase, and organizers say this item can have a major impact on self-esteem.

“They say that kids don’t go to school because they don’t have shoes, or the right shoes,” said Theresa Bugelholl, who coordinated the first event 11 years ago. Even though she now lives in Florida, she returns each year to help with Shoe Fest and has watched it steadily grow from its first year when they distributed 250 pairs of shoes to neighborhood kids.

Families wait in line at the 11th annual Shoe Fest at Helping Hands of St. Louis in Toledo. 1,600 shoes were given away to kids. (TFP Photo/Laurie Bertke)

Adult and teen volunteers kept the long line moving as they measured feet and shuttled bins of water and pairs of shoes between the fitting stations. Families enjoyed games, balloon animals and a deejay while they waited, lending the event a carnival atmosphere. Along with shoes, the young guests left with free school supplies, books and other giveaways.

The event is run on a first-come, first-served basis, but if a child is in line and they run out of the size that a child needs, Perlaky says volunteers take down their name and size and deliver the pair of shoes to the family’s home later.

While Helping Hands of St. Louis outreach center is a ministry of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Toledo, shoes donations came from a broad coalition that included Soles4Souls, secular organizations, individuals, Catholic parishes, Protestant congregations and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Some individuals, like Perlaky, buy shoes on clearance throughout the year and store them for the occasion. “We have an area in our attic that just constantly has shoes,” she said.

Beyond the symbolic connection to the Biblical story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples as an example of service, Perlaky explained the goal of the event is to build relationships. “We just want all the kids to know that they have a system of people who believe in them and want them to be everything they want to be.

 “We just don’t want them to ever feel like they should give up.”

Volunteer Emma Branford, left, measures the foot of Mecka’Rose Oldham-Howell, 3, while her brother Karl’James, and grandmother Barbara Lewis, look on. (TFP Photo/Laurie Bertke)

Daily Dose | The Humorist

By
Don Lee
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Editorial cartoon by Don Lee for the Toledo Free Press

Daily Dose | The Humorist

By
Don Lee
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0
Editorial cartoon by Don Lee for the Toledo Free Press

The fix-it shop

By
C.A. Matthews
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Clothing is repaired during a session with the Toledo Repair Cafe at the Kent Library Branch. (TSP Photo/Scott W. Grau)

Fixing more than appliances at the Toledo Repair Café

TOLEDO – It’s my favorite digital camera of all time, and Kodak stopped making it years ago. So, when my Kodak EasyShare stopped functioning properly I was desolate. Wonderful photographs and happy memories were created with that camera. An artist will tell you there’s nothing quite like their favorite paintbrush and when it’s broken or lost, things are never quite the same. That’s how I feel about my dark blue digital camera. 

“Junk it!” was the most common advice I was given when looking for a way to fix my camera, but why should I throw it away? I didn’t want to give up on it when it seemed like a simple fix, but who fixes cameras in the Toledo area nowadays? Not many I discovered. 

While searching for a new lightweight digital camera, I discovered they are complicated and costly. My simple-to-use, inexpensive digital camera has gone the way of the passenger pigeon. People tell me to use my cell phone camera for photography projects, but a phone is a phone in my opinion. I want a dedicated camera with a decent variable lens that takes a crisp picture and not just blurry selfies.

Volunteers work on projects during a repair session with the Toledo Repair Cafe at the Kent Library Branch. (TFP Photo/Scott W. Grau)

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a group who understood my plight and feelings in regards to my cherished camera, and they’re located right here in Toledo – and coming to a library branch near you.

The Toledo Repair Café meets in community rooms at various Toledo/Lucas County Public Library branches on the last Saturday of the month (barring holidays) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. I attended their most recent event on Saturday at the Kent Branch at 3101 Collingwood Blvd. 

Local fix-it experts (some young, some not so young) freely donate their time and talents to this co-ministry of Park United Church of Christ and the Baha’is of Sylvania. Their partnerships also include the Toledo/Lucas County Public Library, Northwest State Community College and the MultiFaith Council of NW Ohio. 

Tim Casida, who works on computers and other related electronics, tried his best to repair my digital camera. A tiny plastic piece on the battery compartment door had snapped off, keeping the batteries from making consistent contact with the mechanism that turns the camera off and on. It’s the equivalent of a broken fingernail. Why should we fill our landfills with items that could be repaired, repurposed or reused? 

TOLEDO, OH – JULY 27: John Krochmalny, left, and Garry Batts, right, smile as the light bulb turns on after repairing a lamp during a repair session with the Toledo Repair Cafe at the Kent Library Branch. (TFP Photo/Scott W. Grau)

Tim brought along a variety of old cameras to cannibalize parts from, but none quite fit. He thinks he might have an exact match lying somewhere in his attic, so he said to come back next time and see if it will work for my camera. In the meantime, Ol’ Blue is rubber-banded together and works well enough with a few glitches. But not everything can be saved—like the broken motor in our year-old UV fan—so it helps to maintain a realistic view.

The Toledo Repair Café is the brainchild of John Krochmalny and Gary Batts. According to Krochmalny, the repair café movement started in 2009 in Europe. There are now an estimated 3,191 repair cafés worldwide from the United States to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, India and Japan.

The folks of the Toledo Repair Café do more than just fix cameras; they also repair lamps, fans, small appliances, bicycles, jewelry and clothing items. They help fix holes in our hearts, too. Krochmalny noted that our need for community and fellowship is sometimes lacking in this post-COVID world. The café is a place for folks to come together and enjoy a casual conversation over coffee and cookies while getting a prized possession fixed. 

Krochmalny related a story from their first event that emphasizes their mission:

A woman came in with a very old piece of jewelry. It was broken and needed some links repaired so she could wear it again. She cried with joy as the repaired piece was handed back to her. She told us it had been given to her by her late husband who had passed away the week before. We mended more than just a piece of jewelry that day.

Yes, they did.

This is the angle I want to take with my column here at the Toledo Free Press. I’m calling my column Surviving and Thriving in Toledo. Each story will focus on a particular person or group/organization that is making a difference in how Toledo-area residents are surviving and thriving and helping their neighbors do the same. 

Some topics I’d like to cover are food preservation and gathering tips, urban gardening, health care accessibility, housing, finding affordable clothing, self-help groups, and mutual aid groups. I’m open to hear about whatever you think would be of benefit to the community.    

If you have an idea for a person or a group you think should be featured, please let me know. I’d love to share their story. Together we’ll create a record of the ingenuity and graciousness of Northwest Ohioans for future generations to learn from and possibly follow.

There’s no use in denying it—life isn’t easy nowadays. But if we come together and show each other hints and tips to get through these tough times, it will be worth it. Like the woman who thought her cherished piece of jewelry—and the precious memories surrounding it—were lost to her forever, we could find ourselves pleasantly surprised when a neighbor gives us a hand up and helps us along the road of life. 

We can do more than survive, Toledo. We can thrive.

Click here to learn more about the movement and how you can even start your own repair café. You can also follow them on Facebook at Toledo Repair Café and online, where they have a calendar page with information on their upcoming fix-it events.

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