Finding love at Romance-Con
Main library transforms into the mecca of romance
TOLEDO – What type of romance novel disciple are you? You’ve dabbled in the art form in the past. You’ve read Fifty Shades of Gray but you’re not sure where to go next. You always got a novel with you, and you read every chance you get. You’re waiting by your Kindle (or at the library) for the next release. Or, you’re actually writing your first romance novel right now!
If you relate in any way to any of these scenarios, Romance-Con is the place for you! On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Main Branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library (TLCPL) transforms downtown Toledo into the Mecca of everything Romance Novel. This free celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. throughout the library.
“Romance authors love meeting their fans and other authors,” explained Allison Fiscus, adult services coordinator with TLCPL and organizer of Romance-Con. “Romance-Con is the ideal spot to listen to these people and their passion, and share that passion with one another.”
Findlay-based author L. B. August is excited to meet readers and authors at Romance-Con. “I’m going in with an open mind, to meet people and to talk about books,” the first-time author said.
She took an unusual path to writing her new book, In The Shadows (which she identifies as “Romantasy” – a combination of romance and fantasy).
“I was looking for really strong female characters but they seemed hard to find, so I just created my own,” August said. It took her a year to write her book, publishing it in early 2024. At Romance-Con, she’ll be part of a paranormal authors’ panel.
Planning for an epic day
Romance-Con is the result of a great deal of planning. Fiscus pondered a Comic-Con-type event for romance novels and novelists as soon as she arrived at TLCPL in 2004. The planning took on a more serious tone after the pandemic in 2021, when she moved into her current position. And rightly so; romance novels represent 52 percent of book sales and are the highest-earning genre of fiction writing (estimated at more than $1 billion). In 10 years, romance readers have changed from women ages 35 to 54 to women between the ages of 18 and 54.
The romance genre has been ignored in the publishing industry and maligned by authors for years. But the genre has consistently grown and diversified, breaking the barriers of publishing (most are self-published).
Romance genres range from contemporary, literary and historic, to religious, gothic and paranormal; from young and “new” adult, to minority, military and LBGTQ. And there is a very strong support system for romance writers in the Toledo area, featuring writing sessions, networking, inspiration and support.
“We’re absolutely feral for the genre here,” said Fiscus, “and the Main Library is the perfect spot for Romance-Com.”
The festival will take over the entire library, with feature presentations in the McMaster Center and meeting rooms 1 and 2, and an author fair throughout the main floor. “The Main Library is a destination in itself, and downtown businesses are taking part too,” Fiscus said.
Talks, hunts and merch
Romance-Con’s featured talks include nationally recognized romance writer Abby Jimenez, author of Just for the Summer, as well as Kimberly Lemming, Kathryn Moon, CM Nascosta, Jo Segura and Julie Soto. The seating for all of these talks is full, but day-of wait-lines will be available to fill no-show seats.
In addition, fans will find a wide range of activities to satisfy their appetites for everything romance:
- An author fair where fans can meet their favorite authors
- A Love & Friendship scavenger hunt for kids
- Button making, featuring a “choose your trope” theme
- Book cover photo shoot for all those Fabio-esque characters
- A Lovers’ Era library exhibit of items about love and heartbreak from across the years
- A wide range of panel discussions of such topics as historical romance, creating tension in stories, becoming a romance author, writing romantic (and hot) scenes, celebrating queer love, general writing tips and editing, etc.
- Social media for romance writers
- A live podcast of Black Romance Has A History
- Researching romance with the BGSU Popular Culture Library
- Tarot readings
- Genre specialty sessions – diversity, fantasy and paranormal writing
“Writing is such a solitary life,” author August said. “I love the indy writing community around the world, and I’m honored to be accepted and asked to participate in Romance-Con. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone involved.”
Food trucks will be available, and local businesses will have specials and discounts throughout the day. In addition, Jupmode will have a pop-up shop with Romance-Con-themed merchandise. Check out the library’s website for all the times and details.
Ohio Task Force One
Toledo assistant fire chief, engineer respond to hurricane disasters
An Ohio-based team helped in rescue and recovery efforts during recent back-to-back hurricanes (Helene and Milton) that hit several southern states. The take-away from local members of that team’s roughly three weeks on duty? Wonder at both the devastating power of nature and the restorative power of community.
Ohio Task Force One is one of 28 Urban Search and Rescue teams managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Its home base is a warehouse in Vandalia, north of Dayton. Its more than 200 volunteer members come from Ohio, with a few from northern Kentucky.
“It was a record-breaking deployment for the task force,” said John Kaminski, an Ohio Task Force One leader and an assistant chief of the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department. “It was the longest in our history. It was three deployments in one.”
Kaminski said the team received deployment orders on Sept. 24 to convene at the Vandalia base. From there, 82 people in 16 vehicles left in a convoy to the Orlando, Fla. area, in advance of Helene.
He said the team was mostly composed of active or retired first responders. The vehicles: five pickup trucks, three or four with trailers, boats, and an all-terrain vehicle; two vans, two SUVs; a bus; three semis, and three box trucks, complete with 50 tons of hand tools and other equipment.
Kaminski said the task force’s main mission is to help authorities on the scene account for people in the storms’ path, rescue those who may be trapped, and recover bodies.
The task force also has engineers. Ben Plowman, of Maumee, a structural engineer for a private consulting firm, said the mission for his colleagues is to “identify any hazards in a collapsed or compromised structure. Our role is to keep the search and rescue people safe.”
As to the damage he saw on this deployment, he described it as “the most devastation I’ve ever seen in my eight years with the task force.”
For what they experienced, Kaminski said in one stretch early in their deployment, the team searched 20,000 houses in 15 hours. There was a lot of debris and downed trees, and something that surprised him. “There was a lot of sand with Helene,” he said, adding storm winds usually don’t push that much sand inland. “There was a lot of beach erosion.”
On Sept. 29, the task force was sent to North Carolina in response to the storm’s aftermath. The task force – traveling together as a unit – operated west of Asheville. Kaminski said, in a sense, the task force acted as detectives – talking with people to learn who had left before the storm to live with relatives or friends out of state, and to help others find closure.
The team then was deployed east of Asheville. Altogether, it spent a week in North Carolina, after a week in Florida. At that point, eight of the volunteers had to return to their homes or jobs but were replaced by eight other volunteers.
What stood out about North Carolina was the effect of water “and what it can do, moving cars on top of cars and what it does to the infrastructure. It was mind-boggling,” Kaminski recalled.
On Oct. 7, the task force was re-deployed to Florida in the face of Milton, which spawned tornadoes.
The task force returned to Vandalia on Oct. 14 at 5 a.m. after about a 21-day deployment, Kaminski said. The team traveled about 4,000 miles in that time.
Everywhere they went, storm victims greeted them warmly. “People would come up to us and ask if they could hug us, pray for us, shake our hand,” Kaminski said. “We got an outpouring of support from people who literally lost everything. They wanted to hand off their groceries to us – we said, ‘No. What do YOU need?’”
Plowman had the same experience. “The people who came across us said we meant the world to them, that when they saw people with boots on the ground going house to house, asking if everyone’s okay and accounted for; they feel like people do care.”
He added, “One thing that will always stay with me in this deployment was the selflessness, spirit and sense of community from the people who had lost so much.”
“Every time we go, we bring back experience to our home agencies. Northwest Ohio is no stranger to tornadoes and severe weather. We learn how to manage resources. These deployments … we learn so much from them. It’s invaluable,” Kaminski said.
Kaminski made two final points: Kudos to those who allow the task force volunteers to do what they do; and that the people of storm-hit Florida and North Carolina continue to need help through valid agencies.
School levies on the ballot
School levies of primary concern this election
Although much of the election focus – positive and negative – has been directed at local candidates and issues, regional school districts also have had their fair share of contentiousness.
Districts cite rising costs and student population growth as reasons for coming to voters for more money.
One of the most heated levy requests is in the Perrysburg Exempted Village School District, where voters are being asked to support an eight-year incremental operating levy. It will replace a current levy that is set to expire.
The ballot language reads, in part, “The tax will be levied in 2024 to raise $13.5 million. In the seven following years, the tax will increase by not more than $2 million each year so that during 2031, the tax will raise approximately $27.5 million.”
The Wood County auditor’s office estimates the rate will be 9.73 mills or $341 for each $100,000 of appraised value in 2024 and will increase to $693 per $100,000 valuation in 2031.
Proponents of the levy point out that as the community grows, less millage will be needed to collect the set dollar amount. In the last year of an expiring 2019 levy, the cost to a homeowner was 69 percent of what it originally was.
Perrysburg school officials also note that the bond debt for construction of Perrysburg High School ends in collection year 2025, leading to the retirement of 1.85 mills, or a tax reduction of $5.39 per month based on a $100,000 home.
Across the Maumee River in Lucas County, Perrysburg’s sports rival, Anthony Wayne School District is seeking support for a five-year, 2.42-mill operating levy, which will generate $3.3 million annually. If approved, it will cost the owner of a $100,000 home $85 annually.
Unlike Perrysburg, the district is in a somewhat unique position. Should voters not approve the levy, their property tax will increase anyway because the state constitution requires a minimum of 20-mills to be collected to fund districts.
The new Lucas County auditor’s office property appraisals are projected to drop the district below that 20-mill threshold.
As a result, should the issue fail, the millage would drop to 16.9 mills and, under Ohio law, residential and agricultural property owners will be required to pay the 3.1 mills to meet the minimum threshold.
If the Anthony Wayne levy passes, the rate will still fall, but only to 19.4 mills, and the approved millage will be shared by residential and agricultural property owners as well as commercial and industrial properties.
The remaining 0.6 mills will be assessed to residential/agricultural property owners.
Anthony Wayne voters last approved an operating levy in 2013.
Other districts with a levies on the ballot are Gibsonburg Exempted Village. The district is asking for a 1 mill renewal with an additional 1 mill at a cost of $46 annually based on $100,000 valuation; and Bowling Green City Schools, asking for a 0.75 percent income tax for a continuing period beginning January 1, 2025.
In addition, other Lucas County school districts on the ballot are Springfield Local Schools, seeking renewal of a $3.9 million, 10-year operating levy, and Toledo Public Schools.
TPS is asking voter approval of a bond issue for construction and renovation of district buildings. The $99 million, paid over 30 years, is for 2 mills, costing the owner of a $100,00 home $71 per year.
“For those out there asking, ‘Do we need this?’ Yes,” exclaimed former Toledo mayor Carty Finkbeiner, who was among dozens of supporters of Issue 19 who attended a press conference at The Tabernacle on Oct. 24.
“We can’t say that children are number one in our lives unless we help those children get the education and the training that two or three of us here got at Nathan Hale (TPS elementary school),” Finkbeiner said. “We got to get the job done.”
Former mayor Mike Bell then stepped up to the podium and proclaimed that he is TPS proud. “What this is about – and it’s real basic – this is about investment. This is about investing in kids. This is about trying to turn the direction of a whole community in a very positive way.
“I can tell you that if I wasn’t TPS proud, I wouldn’t have been able to do the things that I was able to do,” Bell said.
“So, this is all about our future. When people start worrying about the numbers, and its real minimal as for what they get in return, we need to think about the investment, think about these kids, and what our future is going to be,” Bell continued.
“If we don’t do this, we are still going to be paying for it .. but paying for it in a negative way as compared to a positive way,” he warned. “We have all of these people here who care for kids. Let’s just move forward and get Issue 19 passed.”
TJO hits the high notes
Toledo Jazz Orchestra readies to honor Stan Kenton
TOLEDO – A concert featuring the music of the late, legendary big band leader Stan Kenton has been an annual fan favorite for many years for the Toledo Jazz Orchestra.
This year, the jazz band will honor Kenton on Nov. 2 with a concert at the Valentine Theatre titled, Fascinating Rhythm – the Music of Stan Kenton.
“He was a very progressive jazz artist for his time,” said Scott Potter, who plays trumpet with the TJO. “His stuff stands alone; it’s very unique with a lot of high and loud trumpet parts.”
Kenton was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1911 and learned to play the piano as a child. He formed his own big band in 1941 and went on to lead jazz groups with as many as two dozen members.
At times, his music was so powerful and pumped with soaring high notes that it overwhelmed some audiences. Kenton had an affinity for Afro-Cuban music and many of his songs were built on propulsive rhythms that utilized the combined power of drums, tympani, bongos, maracas, claves and timbales.
Kenton led his group until he passed away in 1979, but his music continues to inspire jazz musicians and audiences around the world.
Potter said the trumpet parts that Kenton and others wrote for the band “are always interesting and fun to play.”
He said he and other members of the TJO don’t mind taking on a challenge.
“It can take some extra time to learn, but we get the music about three weeks in advance of a concert, so by the time we meet for our first group rehearsal, we are expected to know the music. We’ve definitely played difficult music before. We brought in [trumpeter] Randy Brecker a few years ago and some of the tunes he brought were really, really difficult.”
The TJO is scheduled to present “A Very Jazzy Christmas” on Dec. 21 featuring vocalist April Varner, a Toledo native now living in New York City. Her recently released debut album, April, received high praise from Downbeat magazine, which said “the 27-year-old delivers with plenty of flare, showing off her impressive range.”
Potter said the TJO is planning to go into the studio and record a Christmas album with Varner on vocals.
The group’s 2024-25 season will continue with a tribute to the late Toledo jazz icon Jon Hendricks with “American Songbook 3: The Artistry of Jon Hendricks” on Feb. 1, a concert featuring Miles Davis’s album Porgy and Bess on March 15, and conclude with “An Evening with John Pizzarelli” featuring the nationally known guitarist on April 12.
All the concerts are on Saturdays at either the Valentine Theatre or the Toledo Museum of Art-Peristyle, scheduling that is conducive to drawing big crowds.
Potter, who has been with the TJO for decades, is a lifelong jazz devotee who still practices every day, sometimes spending “hours and hours in the practice room.”
He even brings his trumpet on vacation.
“I remember taking my horn to St. Martin with me because it was two or three weeks before a concert, and while everybody else was laying around the pool, I was in the house practicing my music.”
He also continues to study music theory with local jazz icon and teacher Gene Parker.
The TJO formed in 1979, but after three decades went through a difficult time in regard to administration, organization and funding. The group disbanded around 2010, but Potter said he called saxophonist Mark Lemle – the only original musician still with the TJO – two years later and said, “Why don’t we resurrect the band?”
They brought in Ron Kischuk, a Detroit trombonist and a businessman, as director to help run both the music and administrative duties, and with a small but devoted board of directors, got the group up and running again.
There has always been a strong sense of camaraderie and commitment among the local jazz artists. Potter estimates that about half of the 16-member band has been with the TJO for 25 years or more.
As of July 1, the jazz orchestra is now in the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts, which also oversees the Toledo Symphony and the Toledo Ballet. The arrangement frees up the TJO musicians to focus on their music while TAPA takes care of the administrative needs, marketing and promotion, ticketing and the like.
A big plus is that Alain Trudel, music director of the Toledo Symphony, is now the artistic director of the TJO.
“He’s a brilliant, brilliant musician,” Potter said. “The guys in the band just love working under him because he knows his stuff so well. He’s a marvelous player and he’s got ears you wouldn’t believe. So it’s been a good move all around.”
He said he feels good not only about the current state of the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, but that its future looks bright.
“We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve come out strong. And the TJO has got legs now,” Potter said.
For more information on TAPA and the TJO go to artstoledo.com.
TARTA offers ride to polls
TOLEDO – The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) is offering voters in its coverage area free rides to their polling locations.
Early Voting Center
TARTA can also get early voters where they are going for regular fare. Routes 3, 19 and 52 reach the early vote center at Lucas County’s Shared Services building at 3737 West Sylvania Ave.
Early voting runs through Sunday, November 3.
Nov. 5 | Election Day
TARTA fixed route, paratransit and TARTA Flex on-demand services will be free on Tuesday, Nov. 5, as part of the Voter Ready with TARTA campaign.
At the Voter Ready website, customers will find resources to help locate their polling place and find a route to take them there. Paratransit customers can make reservations by calling 419-382-9901.
“TARTA’s mission is to connect the community with the destinations that matter most, and that certainly includes making sure everyone has the opportunity to vote,” said Laura Koprowski, TARTA’s chief executive officer.
“Fare-free rides on election day is TARTA’s way of removing barriers, so everyone’s voice can be heard,” she said.
