Walbridge Elementary students share a laugh during lunch. Lunches are now free because of a district-wide policy. (Courtesy Photo/TPS)
Lunches for 22,000 students in district at no cost to students
TOLEDO – There’s no need for families to send lunch money this year for K-12 students attending Toledo Public Schools, regardless of household income.
The reason? State officials have approved a district-wide application for free lunches, according to Carrie Kolodziejczyk, TPS senior director of food service and child nutrition.
The national school lunch program started in 1946 and is under the administration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Only a handful of states across the country currently make arrangements for all school meals to be free: Michigan is among them, but Ohio is not.
The Associated Press explained in a 2023 news report that free meals at school was common during in the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the federal aid supporting universal school meals ended in spring 2022.
Afterwards, most states reverted to the system used for decades in which families who wanted the assistance had to file an application every year requesting free or reduced-price meals for their students.
Under USDA income guidelines for the 2024-25 school year, a family with three in the household would be eligible for free school meals with a total annual income of $33,566 or less. That same family would be eligible for reduced-price school lunches with a total annual income of $47,767 or less.
Ohio officials decided to allow any student who otherwise qualified for reduced price school meals to get breakfast and lunch for free, starting with the 2023-24 school year. The cost is supported through the state budget bill.
Kolodziejczyk said 78 percent of TPS students were eligible for free school breakfast and lunch with last year’s update. At the time, a K-12 breakfast cost $1.50, and a K-12 lunch cost $3.25.
Oakdale Elementary students are among 22,000 students in the district treated to free lunches. (Courtesy Photo/TPS)
What happened this year was one more step, and one where TPS staff had to be proactive in getting the assistance. There was quite a bit of paperwork and documentation involved with the application, she said.
But now, every basic meal is at no cost to all students.
“We were just pleased to be able to get it through this year,” she said.
The cafeteria a la carte items will cost money out of pocket, but those examples are situations where a student might want a second slice of pizza, an additional sandwich, or to buy a snack.
There are just under 22,000 students in the district. Kolodziejczyk said about 30-45 percent of students get a school breakfast, and about 65-75 percent get a school lunch.
The other students prefer to pack their own meals, sometimes for allergy reasons and dietary preferences.
For example, Kolodziejczyk said while meatless entrees are easily available in the school lunchrooms, specifically vegan meals often are not.
“We also don’t have a halal solution at this time,” she said, referring to Islamic dietary guidelines.
In the meantime, the district updated student menu entrees after a study group of both staff and parents considered the options.
New menu items for grade schoolers include macaroni and cheese, and new menu items for high schoolers include walking tacos and sandwich wraps.
Members of the El Corazon de Mexico Ballet Folklorico dance on Superior St. during the 2023 Momentum Festival. (Courtesy Photo/Ellen Dziubek)
Festival showcases interactive art, live music, performances
TOLEDO – Momentum 2024, a celebration of arts and culture in Toledo, starts Wednesday with the opening of the Momentum | Intersection glass exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion.
The Arts Commission announced that three internationally recognized artists will be creating experimental new works for exhibition as part of the Momentum Festival, thanks to a partnership with NSG Pilkington. The awardees are Gabriel Peña, Matthew Hutchinson and Davin Ebanks. The exhibition is scheduled for Sept. 20 – Oct. 26. The opening reception will be held on Friday, from 5-7 p.m. Both the exhibition and opening reception takes place in the Glass Pavilion and are free and open to the public.
Friday through Sunday, the Momentum artist exhibition will be located in Downtown Toledo, on N. Superior St. between Madison Ave. and Adams St. More than 100 local artists are participating in this year’s festival, a vibrant mix of visual, performing and literary artists in a location that utilizes “Toledo’s fabric and architecture to create a sense of density, focus, and intimacy” according to Chloe Nousias, marketing and communications manager.
Art Loop participants dance on Madison Ave. during last September’s Momentum Festival. (Courtesy Photo/Ellen Dziubek)
Audience members cheer on performers at an outdoor stage during Momentum 2023. (Courtesy Photo/Ellen Dziubek)
The festival will provide venues for INTER/ACTIVE projects—highly interactive, community-driven, collaborative works of art accessible to the public and civic in scope. These will be placed in key locations throughout the event for the public’s enjoyment.
On Friday, the Momentum kick-off with exhibition gallery opening will take place at the Gardner Building at 500 Madison, with DJ Jon Zenz providing entertainment from 6-9 p.m.
Saturday’s activities are from 1-10 p.m., featuring the Glovation Circus, a scavenger hunt, music and dance, including performances by Los Aztecas, The Essentials and Sam Shaba.
Brood X, a film showcase located at 331 N Superior St., has doubled its submissions this year by accepting entries from both Michigan and Ohio, attracting even more talented regional filmmakers to Toledo. The showcase will feature jury selected short films on both Saturday and Sunday, and an exclusive panel discussion with LA-based actress, producer and director Alexandra Barreto, and festival coordinator of Hellʼs Half Mile in Bay City, Mich., producer, director and writer Alan Lafave.
Sunday is Family Day, featuring activities, such as yoga on the plaza, the Bird’s Eye View Circus and several musical performances. The fun starts at 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
An artist’s market will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with work available for purchase from local sellers. Food and drinks will also be available from a variety of local food trucks and at a pop-up bar location in the Gardner Building.
Since 2017, Momentum has been an annual festival that celebrates Toledo’s vibrant community through arts and culture. Momentum 2024 is made possible by donations from many local businesses and individual donors. Check out the full festival schedule here.
Art Loop participants dance on Madison Ave. during last September’s Momentum Festival. (Courtesy Photo/Ellen Dziubek)
An invasive spotted lanternfly hangs on a tree along Adams St. in Downtown Toledo in August 2024.
Colorful menace threatens agriculture, ecosystems
Story and photos by Christy Frank
TOLEDO – Swarms of spotted lanternflies recently hitchhiked their way into Downtown Toledo, and while they look pretty, their vibrant colors are a deceptive cloak for the havoc this invasive insect could unleash on area agriculture and ecosystems.
The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive agricultural pest that spreads by getting a ride on human transportation modes, such as trains and cars. Amy Stone, Agriculture and Natural Resources educator with The Ohio State University, said that’s why so many of them are in the downtown area.
“They are awesome hitchhikers, so we see them following rail lines or where people travel to and from,” explained Stone. She said populations are highest in areas with close proximity to train tracks, including East and South Toledo.
A spotted lanternfly on a downtown Toledo city sidewalk in August 2024.
Amy Stone, right, shares information about spotted lanternflies at the Toledo Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
Originating from Asia, they were first discovered in the U.S. in Pennsylvania 10 years ago, and their infestation in Ohio now covers 12 counties. They are mostly only a nuisance for people, as they cannot bite or sting humans, but according to Stone, “ultimately, if we eat or drink, that is going to affect us, as well.”
Grapes, hops, hardwoods and fruit trees are among the affected plants. The lanternfly uses its needle-like mouth parts to pierce plant tissues and feed on the sap. This leaves plants weaker and more susceptible to diseases and can affect both the quantity and quality of crop productivity. Wine, beer, maple syrup and local fruits are all at risk.
This concerns Lisa Brohl, trustee with the Put-in-Bay Township Park District, who also grows grapes on South Bass Island for the Heineman Winery. “We’ve had drought conditions this year, too. We’ve got deer. This could be really bad.”
They have traps set up to monitor for the insect’s potential arrival and haven’t seen any on South Bass, but they’ve appeared in Castalia and Catawba, which is too close for comfort. A hitchhiking lanternfly on one visitor’s car could spell trouble for the island.
Invasive spotted lanternflies collect along One SeaGate in downtown Toledo in September 2024.
Brohl also serves as chair of the Lake Erie Islands Conservancy and is just as worried about trees in their forest.
“We had emerald ash borer so we have a lot of holes in our forest right now where the ash were,” said Brohl.
The insects eat maple and black walnut and she explained that “we can’t really afford to lose other components of our forest type here. I’d just hate to see that happen.”
She said they have been trying to be proactive there after first hearing about the lanternfly by treating the invasive tree of heaven, the preferred host plant for the insects. Brohl summed up her concerns about the unknown, comparing this experience with the area’s past lesson on zebra mussels and emerald ash borers.
“Anytime you get a hole in the ecosystem, you know, once you see that void, invasives are usually more poised to take advantage of disturbance than some of our native trees,” she said.
There are still a lot of unknowns about the insect and its potential impact. “We’re at the 10-year anniversary and we’ve learned a lot, but sometimes research takes time,” said Stone.
She said some early populations have decreased, but there is a chance they could rebound. Right now, Pittsburgh is a hot spot, with lanternfly swarms even showing up on radar, similar to the way Ohio’s mayfly season does on the thickest days. A few lanternflies on a plant aren’t likely to do significant damage, but they can be detrimental when there are tens or hundreds of them.
An invasive spotted lanternfly climbs over a swarm of dead insects in downtown Toledo at One SeaGate in September 2024. (TFP Photo/Christy Frank)
One study out of Pennsylvania State University found that lanternfly feeding reduced the sugar concentration in silver maples by 65 percent. This could lead to a decrease in maple production. More research needs to be done in this area.
Another undetermined aspect of the lanternflies is the sweet and sticky substance they emit from their body after feeding. This excrement, called honeydew, leaves behind a residue in areas with a high population. Besides being a nuisance for people, there may be broader implications. Stone said honeybees are collecting this honeydew and taking it to the hive.
“Beekeepers are noticing in high populations that it changes the taste of their honey,” Stone said. Researchers continue investigating whether that alternative bee food source is beneficial or harmful.
They will most likely stick around until the first hard frost or freeze. Current swarms are probably due to mating, and Stone said egg masses are what they are on the lookout for next. “They’ll lay eggs that will winter over, and then that will be our population for 2025. So, once those eggs are laid, people could scrape the eggs to try to reduce populations.”
A Downtown Toledo worker sweeps up spotted lanternflies piled outside of the local Starbucks.
Stone says Lucas County residents don’t need to keep reporting findings on the Ohio Department of Agriculture website this year for locations where they’ve already filed a report or where there is a well-known infestation. However, knowing about the expansion is helpful if they travel somewhere new where it hasn’t been reported yet.
For more information about reporting and the spotted lanternfly, people can visit lucas.osu.edu.
An invasive spotted lanternfly hangs on a building in downtown Toledo. This insect is about one inch long and about half an inch wide when at rest.
Editorial cartoon by Don Lee for the Toledo Free Press.
The Maumee River channel above Farnsworth Metropark at Weir Rapids in Waterville. (TFP Photo/Art Weber)
Maumee River reveals true character when water level drops in fall
WATERVILLE – Nature’s extremes can foster new perspectives.
It’s not unusual for Maumee River levels to drop in late summer and fall, exposing some of the river bedrock and opening up new and interesting ways to explore the beauty of our river valley.
This year’s serious drought conditions have dropped river levels to the lowest many local residents have ever experienced, which also means that an unusual amount of the river’s limestone and dolomite bedrock is exposed.
The best viewing is along the shallow rapids of the Maumee River at various Metroparks Toledo, including Side Cut’s Fallen Timbers Rapids, Farnsworth’s Roche deBout Rapids and Wolf Rapids below the dam at Providence Metropark. Visitors will enjoy the water-smoothed and shaped terraces.
Angie McClue is one of two fine arts teachers at Woodward High School. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
National Arts in Education Week, an annual observance since 2010, is Sept. 9-13. To showcase what Woodward High School is doing, local news media were invited to visit Angie McClue’s art classroom on Thursday to see the lessons her students are working on.
“Students of all ages – from kindergarten to college to creative-aging programs – benefit from artistic learning, innovative thinking and creativity,” according to the National Art Education Association.
McClue teaches general art, painting, metals and jewelry. She also teaches a section of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) College and Career Readiness program, in which students learn study skills and note-taking skills. She said she includes art examples within the general studies class when she can.
Alayah Yowpp uses watercolor paints to work on a color wheel lesson in Angie McClue’s painting class. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
“You can integrate it with other subjects,” McClue said about visual arts.
To make the point: McClue’s classroom includes a poster of significant eras in art history and the years in which they flourished. She will also ask the students what they are learning in other classes to give art context to those lessons.
Art, music and literature, she added, are all “the history of mankind.”
Today’s trends certainly influence what projects students want to try. Jewelry-making and polymer clay figurines are among the currently popular lessons.
“The DIY culture has become so huge,” McClue pointed out.
Art students at Woodward High School are working on jewelry-making projects. Teacher Angie McClue shows a box of beads and a necklace length chart. (TFP Photo/Paula Wethington)
Aunesti Simon, a junior, is among those who have previously taken a jewelry class and is in this fall’s painting class. “I just liked making bracelets,” she said about her art interests.
And Alayah Yowpp, a junior in the painting class, said she also had taken a previous art class that featured mixed media.
The painting class is currently studying color theory, using watercolors to mix and paint the specific shades of a color wheel.
Kerry Patrick Clark performs at the One SeaGate Center Music Series on Aug. 20. (Courtesy Photo/Brant Niggemyer
Kerry Patrick Clark has a passion for music and reaching people
WHITEHOUSE – Kerry Patrick Clark is often described as a musical Norman Rockwell, a troubadour who tells stories and makes connections through songs that reflect the spirit of America.
If that means getting nostalgic at times, Clark has no qualms about it depending on the audience.
“One of the things I’ve done for years, part ministry and part music, is I sing at retirement centers and nursing homes,” he said. “It’s perhaps some of the most enjoyable stuff that I do because we do singalongs and tell stupid dad jokes and we get to be present in the moment and present in the community we’ve created.”
“Well, you know, I couldn’t be in person with these folks, so how can I serve them?” Clark pondered.
It’s a singalong video featuring vintage American tunes, such as Take Me Out to the Ball Game, In the Good Old Summertime and Let Me Call You Sweetheart.
While singing You Are My Sunshine, Clark stopped strumming his guitar for a moment to look into the camera and say, “I love this song – you are my sunshine, my only sunshine! It makes me happy when I sing it!”
Clark’s music is not all vintage Americana, however. He has recorded nine albums of original songs in a variety of genres and has performed concerts across the country.
His musical style spans pop, country and folk genres, but he said he’s generally categorized as a folksinger.
I’m a middle-aged, middle class, middleweight white guy with a guitar, right? I’m too old to be a pop guy, even though that’s the sensibility that I write from, like the singer-songwriters of the ‘70s but with the life experience, and also the sensibilities of our modern world. I’m not country, although some of my songs are country. It’s like, where do I fit in?
Kerry Patrick Clark
Clark traces his folksinger label to 1985, when he toured the country with the renowned folk music group the New Christy Minstrels. “So I have a history of folk music,” he said.
Most people in the Toledo area have seen Clark perform at one venue or another. He’s been on virtually every stage in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan in his lengthy career, from theaters and bars to Christmas parties and Easter brunches.
This year, Clark has been performing monthly on the Sandpiper, singing and playing guitar as patrons enjoy dinner while cruising along the Maumee River. His last Sandpiper show of 2024 is set for Sept. 18.
Clark has a busy performance schedule, including upcoming concerts in the Cincinnati suburb of Madeira and on “the Left Coast,” as he calls it, in Tehachapi, Calif., near Los Angeles.
“I play a lot at listening rooms. There are listening rooms all over the globe,” he said.
Kerry Patrick Clark’s folksinger career began while touring with New Christy Minstrels in 1985. (Courtesy Photo/Kerry Patrick Clark)
Listening room concerts are organized by people who love music and don’t want to be distracted at a noisy bar or a sports bar to hear an artist. Many are put on by members of the national Folk Alliance that celebrates folk and world music, as well as folk and world dance.
“They offer up their home, church, coffee house or some venue where people literally come for a concert. I do two 45-minute sets. Sometimes they have a potluck meal before or after and talk with the artist,” Clark said.
“I did all the bar stuff. I did all the touring and traveling and gigging and all of that, and my life story is really wonderful and I wouldn’t change it for a minute,” he reminisced. “But where I want to play now is where music matters. And so whatever that looks like, a church concert or a coffee house or a listening room or a senior center, that’s where it is.
“That sounds a little egotistical, like it’s about me, but it’s really about us. … We laugh, we sing, and it’s just this really incredible opportunity for us to come together in a moment in time and be a community for an hour and a half.”
It’s essential for Clark to engage his audiences. He loves talking to people, telling jokes, making comments, asking questions.
“Anybody can play guitar and sing,” he said, “but to move people through story and song or put a show together, that is a sort of an emotional roller coaster.”
Clark was born in Mason, Mich., and moved to Sylvania in the fifth grade. His father was a scientist for Owens-Illinois and his mother was a bookkeeper. His dad played guitar as a hobby and taught Clark to play his first three chords.
“I would barricade myself in my room and just play. I was fairly insecure and was really more happy just being in my room playing a guitar than anywhere else.”
Clark credits the late Eddie Boggs, another well-known local artist, for teaching him to be not just a singer and guitarist, but an entertainer.
Boggs, who passed away in 2014 at age 68, was Clark’s seventh-grade social studies teacher in Sylvania.
During his senior year, Boggs called him up and invited Clark to play a few shows together. That led to concerts at Put-in-Bay, local yacht clubs, restaurants, and clubs and venues throughout northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.
“He took me under his wing and we became musical partners and I played with him for years, not just that but we became the best of friends and he taught me more about entertaining and the magic of how to put a show together and how to entertain.”
Clark is a Martin Guitar Preferred Artist, which means the prestigious guitar company custom-makes acoustic guitars for him.
“I still pay for them but not as much as a regular customer. I’ve only got two Martins but they are really remarkable instruments. I pick up a model and tell them what I want, what finish I want. And the one they send me is the only one of its kind.”
His first customized Martin guitar arrived on Christmas Eve day about 15 years ago.
“The UPS guy shows up, I didn’t know it was coming that day, and I open the door and this guy says, ‘UPS, sign here,’ and he’s got a Martin guitar box. And I just start weeping. I’m sure the UPS guy is thinking, ‘Just sign and let me get out of here!’”
Clark knew when he was in high school that he wanted to make music his career.
“That’s all I ever wanted to do.” His parents thought differently.
“’Well,’ my dad would say, ‘Music is a good thing, and you can do it on the weekends. But you should get’ – and here it comes – ‘you should get a real job!’,” Clark said with a laugh.
That changed when he was 20 and his mother did his taxes. Clark had made more money that year than his father did as a full-time scientist.
“That conversation-slash-argument of getting a real job stopped. I told my parents, ‘I know you’re fearful for me, but I’m going to figure out how to make this work.’”
Kerry Patrick Clark is a Martin Guitar Preferred Artist. (Courtesy Photo/Kerry Patrick Clark)
Music is still Clark’s passion. He does have a “real job” as a real-estate developer and property owner along with his wife, Amy. But there’s no time clock to punch and no desk to sit behind.
His son, Robbie Clark, is following in Kerry’s footsteps as a singer-guitarist.
Robbie Clark is opening for Crystal Bowersox at the Toledo School for the Performing Arts on Sept. 14 and has a regular gig at Lupita’s in downtown Perrysburg.
Robbie made it pretty far as a singer competing on American Idol.
“I drove to Austin (Texas) with him and he auditioned in front of the judges. He got a ‘yes’ from Lionel Ritchie, a ‘no’ from Katy Perry, and a ‘not yet’ from Luke Bryan.”
Clark said he is working on some new songs after going through a dry spell that lasted several years. His songwriting drought ended after spending three weeks earlier this year in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
“There’s nothing quite like looking out on that point where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez come together and seeing whales every single day and sunshine every single day… There was no agenda, no real estate to work on or any gig to get to. Every day I was writing, and I think I have five songs that came out of it. It was such a gift to remember who I am and to have the floodgates of writing open again.”
He said he plans to release the songs as singles, not on albums or CDs, since most music fans are streaming their tunes these days.
“I have a closet full of CDs that are, like, just paperweights now,” Clark said.
