Lorain County Community Guide - March 2, 2023

‘Uncertainty is the biggest issue’

One year after Ukrainian refugees arrive they face protections expiring

LORAIN — Oleg Tiurkin and his wife, Valentyna Tiurkina, left their home in Mariupol just over one year ago.

The young couple woke at 4 a.m., took suitcases and packed their car with friends, joining hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians who headed west as Russian forces invaded their homeland.

The pair left behind a life in Mariupol: Tiurkin’s career as a well-known videographer and Tiurkina’s as a regional manager for a chain of stores, and close friends and family who chose to stay in the besieged city.

They, like so many others, had no set destination but knew they couldn’t stay once Russian bombs started destroying their city.

Sitting in the basement of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Tiurkin held up his phone and swiped through photos — a before and after of the city they’d left, showing bombed maternity wards and the remnants of his childhood apartment building.

“Our city’s very close to the Russian border,” Tiurkina said. “The war started in one day, all over the country in big cities, but we still knew the western part was safer. … We just knew we had to go west, we had no plan at all.”

It took days to make the drive, across blocked roadways, destroyed highways

and winding local roads. By the time they reached the western border with Romania, it was cold, snowing and they piled into a two-room apartment with five children and eight adults.

“It was a horrible feeling because in the first days of war, Russians made a circle around our city and it was totally closed,” she said. “… So it takes a few days and then there was no electricity, no gas, no water in the city and no communication with them because there’s no electricity.” She said later, “It was a

horrible feeling when you can’t help the people you love and they’re just stuck in the city and you don’t know whether they’re alive or not.”

It was a week before one of her friends was able to get enough of a cellphone signal to call for a few minutes, but when the phone cut off there was no way of knowing if it was a lost connection or something worse.

“I had a really bad panic attack; Oleg helped me to calm down a little bit,” Tiurkina said. It took another three weeks before

the couple heard from their friends again.

“One after another they left the city and started to contact me and it was very emotional when they left the city and they were shocked and then they started to talk and cry,” she said. “They just recognized what happened with them when they left the city In the city they were closed from their emotions, surviving.”

The couple moved to Germany, then came to Ohio by way of a flight to Spain, then Mexico City, then Tijuana and waited at

a gate there to be granted humanitarian parole into the United States. They came to Ohio because Tiurkin had a childhood friend in Sheffield who helped find them a temporary apartment in Lorain.

From there, they moved into Wesleyan Village in Elyria.

“But then you just look back and realized that there was no way back — you have no home, no job, no friends around you in your city like we used to live a comfortable, beautiful life we built,” Tiurkina said. “New life? What new

life? We weren’t ready for something new.”

It’s a sentiment many of the families who came to Lorain County share. While grateful to be safe, they’d never planned to have their lives uprooted.

Nataliia Kobiakova had made a life with her husband and three children in Dnipro. They left it behind after their city was attacked.

“My family, the circumstances worked in such a way, they actually all came to the United States separated in different ways,” she said.

St. Mary’s the Rev. Dmitri Belenki translated for her at times.

“When you’re running for your life, you don’t care how you’re going to enter this country,” he said of her family’s different statuses. “You have a choice to get out, you’re just going to go … safety is your priority.”

First, Nataliia’s husband came on a travel visa in March. Then, her 18-yearold son made a similar trip to Oleg and Valentyna’s — Germany to Spain to Portugal to Mexico City to Tijuana where he gained humanitarian parole and crossed the border.

Last were Kobiakova and her two youngest children, who had planned to stay in Germany because her middle son is a star soccer player and German coaches wanted to work with him.

But that plan ended when she woke up one morning and their car, with Ukrainian plates, had been plastered with swastikas by pro-Russian vandals.

She said her husband

Commissioners OK grant for Amherst water, sewer project

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Feb. 24 to grant the city of Amherst $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to aid in repairs to aging sewer, water and road infrastructure in a residential neighborhood.

The funds will help the city repair or replace sewer pipes, water mains and roadway in the Sharondale Allotment between Cooper Foster Park Road and state Route 2 in Amherst.

Amherst Mayor Mark Costilow told commissioners that the total project cost is more than $1.7 million, with

at least $1.3 million of that going into improving water and sewer infrastructure.

The city will spend more than $633,000 of its own ARPA money, in addition to the county’s $400,000 share and additional funding from Amherst’s existing street improvement levy, he said.

Amherst will cover all the engineering costs, Costilow said, and the project will benefit more than 100 homes in the area.

“This will help a lot of people, it will help our sanitary system and puts the ARPA dollars really to good use,” he said.

More than 1 mile of sewer pipe will be replaced, rehabilitated or

realigned. Another 2,000 linear feet of water mains will be replaced along with 35 water taps containing potentially dangerous lead, Costilow said. Amherst also will resurface more than 4,400 feet of roadway, he said.

Columbia Gas recently started repairing some of its lines in the same area, and Costilow said the city and the utility are working together and aligning their work schedules to make sure that Columbia Gas doesn’t have to remove or redo any of the city’s planned work.

The city previously found a number of sewer and water lines in the area were 70 years old or older,

REPAIRS PAGE A2

JEFF BARNES | The Chronicle-Telegram

Natalia Glotova (left) and Nataliia Kobiakova speak about their journey to the United States as they escaped Ukraine as Russian forces invaded.

CARISSA

Russell Clyde Fox

Russell Clyde Fox, 82, of Wellington, died Tuesday, February 21, 2023 under the care of New Life Hospice. A son of the late Clyde Allen and Agnes (nee Lentz) Fox, Russell grew up in Kipton and was a 1959 graduate of Firelands High School. He proudly served in the United States Marine Corps for 28 years, obtaining the rank of First Sergeant. Russell served two tours in Vietnam and was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for most of his career. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Russell remained in North Carolina for several years and worked as a boat builder for Carver Yacht and Christ Craft. After moving back to Ohio, he worked for Wolf Envelope in Oberlin and then worked security at Ridge Tool in Elyria. Russell was a life member of the Wellington VFW and was a previous member of the Wellington Eagles and American Legion.

He enjoyed gambling and could often be found mowing his yard. He took great pride in his grandkids and loved his dogs.

Russell is survived by his sons, James Allen (Pamela) Fox, of Wellington and Russell Curtis (Colleen) Fox, of LaGrange; grandchildren, Chris (Megan) Barson, Trent and Hayden Fox; great grandchildren, Colton and Lucas; his former wife and dear friend, Cheryl (nee Pope) Fox; Russell had three sisters as well, Carol Fidler, Patricia Murray, Margaret Switzer.

Friends and family will be received on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Norton-Eastman Funeral Home, 370 S. Main St., Wellington.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 2 at 10 a.m. Burial at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, Rittman will take place at 2:30 p.m.

The family would like to thank the caring and compassionate staff, nurses, and doctors at the Avon Cleveland Clinic Hospital and Mercy New Life Hospice. Expressions of sympathy may be directed online at www.norton -eastmanfuneralhome.com.

Our condolences go out to families that have suffered the loss of a loved one.

To place an obituary or death notice in the Community Guide, call (440) 329-7000.

deteriorating and breaking down. Stormwater was getting into the sanitary sewer lines and manholes, causing “quite a few of the failures,” Costilow said.

Commissioner Jeff Riddell called the city’s plan “responsible government.” He said sewers are “not a sexy topic,” but the combination of ARPA money from the city and county, plus levy or assessment dollars, can bridge the funding gap.

Commissioners also voted to create two tax increment financing districts within Amherst Town-

Barbara Ann Jennings

Barbara Ann Jennings, 64, a lifelong resident of Wellington, died Thursday, February 23, 2023, at the Elms Retirement Village. Born February 20, 1959, in Oberlin, she was the daughter of the late Vernon and Carolyn (nee Gilley) Remines.

Barbara worked for many years at the Wellington Eagles as head bartender for 15 years. She also was the head of Medical Records at Good Samaritan Hospital in Ashland. Barbara was a member of the Eagles Women’s Auxiliary, and was very involved in organizing the weekly Bingo events. Barbara enjoyed spending time outdoors, walking, fishing, and gardening. She was also a talented crafter and was passionate about interior decorating. Most of all Barbara cherished her family, especially her children and her grandchildren. She was also very passionate about her dogs, Lucy and Daisy.

Survivors include her children, Jeff (Shamika) Mason, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Dana Vance, of Wellington; grandchildren, Brandon Bess, Alexandria Hayes, Sabrina Mason, Robert Parsons, Elizabeth Vance, and Olivia Vance; sisters, Patricia Hardy and Lori DeWitt; as well as numerous cousins and aunts and uncles.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Vernon and Carol; brother, Richard Remines; and a sister, Catherine Mudrick.

A private service will be held. Donations in Barbara’s memory may be made to the Lorain County Animal Protective League at www.friend shipapl.org.

Norton-Eastman Funeral Home is assisting the family and expressions of sympathy may be directed online at www.norton-eastmanfuneralhome.com.

Alma Faye Hall

Alma Faye Hall (nee: Phillips), 75, and a resident of Brownhelm Township, passed away Thursday, February 23, 2023, at her home. Arrangements by Hempel Funeral Home.

Marilyn A. Wilhelm

Marilyn A. Wilhelm (nee Foor), 89, of South Amherst, passed away Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at New Life Hospice in Lorain, following a full and meaningful life. Arrangements by Hempel Funeral Home.

Rescued Lorain chihuahuas at APL

LORAIN — Fourteen Chihuahuas removed from a Lorain home on Feb. 21 are receiving care from Friendship Animal Protective League.

Lorain police were called to an address in the 4200 block of Riverview Lane for a welfare check after a call from a concerned neighbor, which revealed an extreme hoarding situation now being investigated by police and city officials.

According to an incident report by Lorain police, officers arrived at 11:41 a.m. to find numerous dogs loose in the front yard and barking.

Entering the residence through an open door, officers noted “mounds of garbage from floor to ceiling in every room” with no sign of the owner. The floor of the home was filled with dog feces and a strong odor of urine.

Additional dogs were found inside running

tions Inc. last month.

ship, in cooperation with township trustees and the Amherst school district.

A TIF exempts the value of private property improvements from property taxes to help fund public infrastructure improvements. Plans are for at least 660 new residences to go in as part of the Sandstone development on 264 acres bordered by the Ohio Turnpike, Route 58, Route 113 and Oberlin Road.

The county previously installed sewer in the area to serve future development.

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Reese Dunton, an economic development coordinator with the Lorain County Community Development Department, said the time was right to create the TIFs. Property owners in the district will make payments in lieu of taxes to the county for infrastructure improvements — primarily, for a connector road linking Oberlin Road to Route 58, Dunton said.

He said the area will be open for further commercial and residential development, bringing construction jobs and tax receipts.

Commissioners also entered into two different compensation agreements with the Amherst schools and the township, so that “everyone gets 80 percent of what they want and the world gets 100 percent of what it needs,” Riddell said.

In other business, commissioners:

● Hired the law firm Dooley Gembala McLaughlin Pecora Tucker Attorneys & Counselors of Sheffield to defend them in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by Cleveland Communica-

The Parma-based company has alleged the county breached its contract when Riddell and Commissioner David Moore rescinded an agreement to provide county first responders with a new radio system less than a month after it was approved and signed by Commissioners Matt Lundy and Michelle Hung.

Over Hung’s objection, Moore and Riddell voted to rescind the 19-dayold agreement on Jan. 9, saying they had concerns about how CCI won the

through garbage and inside furniture, prompting police to contact Friendship APL, Lorain County Public Health and adult protective services.

A total of 14 dogs were removed including one newborn Chihuahua still nursing.

Lorain ordinances allow a maximum of five dogs per residence and the woman was cited in Lorain Municipal Court.

Lorain police Lt. Jake Morris said the department typically works with Friendship APL and the Lorain County Dog Kennel in hoarding situations. After dogs are removed from a home, the courts have the authority to keep custody of animals until certain conditions are met.

Photos released of the home’s interior showed the dogs and debris inside.

Lorain police officials said they are unsure if prosecution will continue due to the accused woman’s alleged mental state. The health department is investigating multiple health code violations.

bid. The county Fire Chiefs Association, Deputies Association, Elyria and Lorain mayors, city officials and Sheriff Phil Stammitti have all since criticized the commissioners for their decision.

● Entered into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation Office of Aviation for a $239,878 grant to rehabilitate runway 7/25, reconstruct airfield lighting, guidance systems, a rotating beacon and lighting work at the Lorain County Regional Airport in New Russia Township.

BRUCE BISHOP | The Chronicle-Telegram Senior Humane Agent Sue Hixon holds a chihuahuas confiscated from a Lorain home.

KEVIN MARTIN THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

Lorain parish members attend rally for Ukraine in Washington, D.C.

As her husband drove them back from Washington, D.C., Tatiana Panas sat in the passenger seat Sunday, still struck by the sea of blue and yellow they were apart of the day before.

Tatiana and Russ Panas, of Sandusky, attended a rally in the capital to mark the one-year anniversary of the most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tatiana is parish board president for St. Mary’s Ukrianian Orthodox Church in Lorain.

On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south, escalating a conflict that began years earlier.

On Feb. 25, 2023, Ukrainian supporters rallied on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the National Mall. There was a program, speakers, Tatiana Panas said, and about 1,000 people gathered to listen and be a part of the crowd.

“There is a kind of energy that lives in a space where people come together for a cause that they believe in and that they have in common,” she said.

“It is quite unique. I suppose it’s not unlike what some people feel about attending church — you share something with this group, so there is something that lives in that space when people come together to support a cause and be heard by others.”

It wasn’t the first rally for either of them, Tatiana

UKRAINE FROM A1

called and started screaming at her to get out — so she and her kids made the trip to Madrid, then Guadalajara, Mexico, to Tijuana.

Three days of traveling later, they crossed the border in the U.S. with no plan other than reuniting with her husband and older son.

“When times come like that, you’re not good at making decisions,” she said.

Eventually, they came to Lorain County and were connected with housing at Amherst’s St. Peter’s Parish parsonage — large enough to fit the family of five comfortably while the younger children enrolled in school and the oldest attended Lorain County Community College.

Natalia Glotova, who sat next to Kobiakova in the basement of St. Mary’s, was the first Ukrainian refugee to come to Lorain County — arriving in the early days of the war on a travel visa with her daughter, son and two cats from Brovary.

Her husband, Roman, helped drive the 30-hour trip to the western border with Germany, then turned back to stay with his own parish and infantry unit. She and Belenki talk to him often.

Glotova’s son, David, is an American citizen born in the county while his parents were there on a visa 14 years ago — but that doesn’t help his mother or sister with the uncertainty in their statuses.

The Glotovas’ travel visas are set to expire in three months, and while Natalia’s applied for an extension, she hasn’t heard back yet. She said they

Panas said. Russ Panas attended the first Earth Day March in 1970 in Washington, D.C. and the couple attended the Women’s March in Cleveland in 2017.

She said at one point

Russ turned to her and remarked they’re really in Washington, D.C., struck by their surroundings.

“There’s something powerful about going to Washington, D.C.” she said. “The monuments that are icons to democracy and being surrounded by that, it’s just a very powerful thing.”

She said she was surprised to see a diversity of people in the crowd amid the blue and yellow flags: different races and different ages.

“It was a long way to come for a short period of time but it was worth every mile as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

She said later, “If you have a voice you need to use it ... and I think that’s what we all did (Feb. 25).”

One of the best signs Tatiana Panas said she saw Saturday was one noting appeasement didn’t work in 1929 and it won’t work in 2023 — referencing the collectivization of Ukrainian farmland in 1929 that led to famine in the early 1930s.

She said the ongoing

arrived three weeks after the cut-off to qualify for temporary protected status, and is reluctant to risk leaving the United States at its southern border and entering again to apply for humanitarian parolee paperwork.

“It’s getting really stressful because you don’t know what is going to happen,” she said. “You can’t really plan and build anything because you just have this day and you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow.”

She added, “Every time you have to think about everything. … It feels like fighting, fighting just to be here. It’s not easy.”

In the year since they began arriving, Ukrainian families in Lorain County have taken English as second language courses at Lorain County Community College. Their children have gone to school and started to make friends, but all are facing uncertainty as the war at home drags on and their visas or temporary protections expire soon.

In the first month, Tiurkina got to Ohio, she got very sick and required surgery, she said.

“I thought, ‘I came here to die?’” she said. “Why didn’t I stay home and die quickly? I felt very down .. but it took my attention from the war because I needed to switch my attention because it will be too much if I thought about my sickness and my dying and the war.”

Her husband was thankful they’d made the trip — as even if they’d stayed in Ukraine and avoided the destruction around them,

conflict will never be solved at the negotiating table, and Russia must be pushed back.

“What you see in Ukraine is what your future will be if (Ukraine) doesn’t get the support that is needed for victory,” she said, noting if Russia moves into countries that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States and other Western nations will be forced to get involved.

The couple attended the rally, bundled in layers to stave off the cold, but left before the attendees marched to Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov’s residence about a mile away.

According to Washington, D.C.’s NBC 4, attendees chanted in front of the ambassador’s home.

Wearing a Vinok, or flower wreath, Tatiana Panas said a woman on the metro saw the headdress and the couple’s blue and yellow face paint and said “Slava Ukraine!” to them on the train.

She said when the war started, she was constantly explaining her nationality and where Ukraine was in the world — but now, she will never have to do that again.

“The world knows Ukraine now,” she said.

Valentyna would have probably not been able to get medical care.

Now, while still waiting on the Lorain Social Security Office to correctly process Tiurkin’s paperwork granting him a Social Security card so he can work in the U.S., the couple hear from friends still in Ukraine.

The war is becoming normal for some.

Tiurkin said he’d called a friend who said just moments ago the post office he was in had been bombed and people ran to shelters, but after a few minutes everyone went back out and moved on with their day.

Some stories are still sobering, his wife said — like social media posts of friends, now soldiers, injured on the front line.

Their humanitarian parolee status is set to expire in April — like Kobiakova’s — but they have little guidance for what’s next.

Belenki said it has left the parish in a lurch, too — deciding whether to sponsor those already here again, or bring more families while worrying about the status of its first refugees.

“We’re bringing them at the same time we already have an issue with those who just came. Because one year flies by so quickly,” he said.

He said later, “Uncertainty is the biggest issue. You’re thinking like, ‘What to do with my future? Should I build and make plans or just let it go as it goes?’”

It’s left families torn between two places and they could soon be citizens without a country, he said.

CARISSA WOYTACH THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

“There is a kind of energy that lives in a space where people come together for a cause that they believe in”

Tatiana Panas

Park Rangers get creative to help tangled bucks

OWEN MACMILLAN THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

AMHERST — Lorain County Metro Parks Rangers used some unconventional tactics thought up by Ranger Mark Detrick to cut apart two bucks who had gotten their antlers stuck together in a bundle of rope.

Two men fishing in the Beaver Creek Reservation encountered another, rather stranger duo on Monday when they saw two male deer with their antlers seemingly bound together.

The men contacted the Metro Parks, and several rangers were dispatched to the scene, among them Detrick.

First eggs of the season

Schools (@avonlakeschools) tweeted just before 8 p.m. Friday Stars laid the second egg just after 3:30 p.m. Feb. 27.

The first egg of the season for Stars and Stripes, Avon Lake’s mating pair of bald eagles, came late afternoon on Feb. 24.

Stars, the female, laid her first egg of 2023 just after 4 p.m., according to eagle watchers on the Avon Lake Bald Eagles Nest Facebook page. Stripes is her male mate.

“We have an egg!” Avon Lake

The birds have a nest in a tree outside Redwood Elementary School. They are watched by number of cameras that broadcast live on YouTube.

Mating eagle pairs typically lay up to three eggs every year. In the Avon Lake nest, two out of three that were laid in 2022 hatched.

Three hatched in 2021, and two hatched in 2020. Students at Redwood Elementary School hold a naming contest for fledgling eaglets each year.

The livestream is available 24 hours a day at youtube.com/c/AvonLakeEagleCam/live.

Photographers are not permitted on or near school grounds from 7 a.m. to 4 pm. Monday through Friday. Visitors are also asked to respect the fencing and not approach the tree.

Westwood Elementary kids ‘stick together’

The rangers found the two bucks in the water at Beaver Creek, struggling to free themselves from a net of rope that entangled them.

“We figure that one buck already had the net in its horns, and ran into another deer with antlers and the two decided to tangle,” Lorain County Metro Parks Director Jim Ziemnik said.

It’s not clear exactly where the material was from or how it became stuck in the antlers of the first deer, but Detrick said it was clearly rope formed into a net.

He speculated that it may have been part of a net trap set by someone hoping to “shed hunt” which is collecting the antlers of deer that are shed in the winter.

The exact circumstance was unusual, but deer getting their antlers stuck together while sparring is not uncommon.

Oftentimes, at least one of the bucks in this situation is put down because they will fight against would-be rescuers.

But on Feb. 20, the rangers present wanted to try and keep both bucks alive.

“They said let’s see if we can free these guys and not have to put one of them down,” Chief Ranger Paul Hruby said. “And Mark was all over that, and kind of spearheaded the effort.”

JEFF BARNES | The Chronicle-Telegram Wellington’s Westwood Elementary students pledged to “stick together” as part of the district’s Kindland campaign rally on Feb. 23. Rallies have been held

So Detrick, a military veteran, said he started thinking outside the box.

He could tell the material tying the antlers together was rope, and he knew he could cut it with the pocket knife he had. But getting

close enough to do so would be unsafe.

Ranger Dakota Loop was also there and grabbed some twine from his vehicle while Detrick found a discarded 2-by-2 post about 8 feet long on the creek bed.

Detrick attached his knife to the end of the rope with the twine and eventually reinforced it with duct tape provided by Amherst police.

“I ran across the creek and I attempted once by myself with my, uh, stickknife device to try to cut them away,” Detrick said. “But I only got a couple cuts before they started getting rowdy again.”

Loop grabbed a catch pole designed for dog catching and Capt. Dustin Frey joined to hem the deer in place, while Detrick went back to work with his contraption.

“We were kind of able to keep them in a certain area,” Detrick said. “Ranger Loop and Captain Frey held on to the catch pole to control the deer while I worked the knife to try and cut away the netting.”

After a five-minute struggle, both deer were freed from the rope, and from each other.

The larger of the bucks took off after a shorter additional struggle to get it out of the catch pole. But the smaller deer had lost an antler and remained on the ground.

The rangers worried it had been hurt, but as Frey approached to retrieve his body camera, which had become unclipped in the fray, the smaller deer popped up and took off as well.

Though Detrick came up with the idea to add distance to the knife, he emphasized he would not have been able to free the deer without the help of his fellow rangers at the scene.

It was a strange and stressful afternoon, but the rangers were thrilled to see both bucks walk away unscathed.

“I was very, very happy,” Detrick said. “Because that thought of having to dispatch the deer did cross our minds. But we did our due diligence to try and not have to do that, and it paid off this time. It was just a little bit of Boy Scout and military ingenuity at work.”

3-year-old Ashton Taylor dies after cancer battle

and playing and running.”

A 3-year-old Elyrian who captured the hearts of many while suffering with terminal cancer died Feb. 23 evening, the family announced on social media.

Ashton Taylor suffered from an aggressive form of brain cancer with his family documenting his journey on social media through their Facebook page, Ashton’s Army. In a Friday morning post, the family announced Ashton’s death with an image of a sunset.

“Ashton is driving Jeeps all around Heaven right now. When we saw the sunset we knew it was Ashton’s time, I knew Granny painted that sunset for him. He passed in my arms tonight with his whole family around him. Our hearts have never hurt so bad but we know he is cancer free

The page is managed by Ashton’s parents, Tara and Joe Taylor. In a separate, previous post, they had written that Ashton was still fighting hard, describing him as a true warrior and loving him until his time came.

Diagnosed after his first birthday, Ashton underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy, but found joy in Jeeps, riding his batteryoperated Jeep around the neighborhood.

In June, 160 Jeep owners from multiple states gathered in Elyria for a Jeep parade, giving Ashton a ride to Sheffield at Quaker Steak and Lube.

Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield offered his condolences on behalf of the city in his weekly update video posted to Facebook. Three weeks ago, Whitfield presented Ashton with a junior key to the city for his fight against brain cancer.

at Wellington High School and McCormick Middle School during the past year.

KEVIN MARTIN THE CHRONICLE-TELEGRAM

Racial Equity Center hosts 'Race Forward' speaker series

The Lorain County Racial Equity Center hosted a forum on Feb. 23 at Lorain County Community College with faith and community leaders looking at strategies to address systemic racism.

The forum was hosted in collaboration with the League of Women Voters Oberlin and Metro Central Unit NAACP and featured the Rev. John C. Dorhauer, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ.

Dorhauer studies white privilege and its impact on the church. He said it was so pervasive that even the United Church of Christ could not escape the historical patterns established long ago, despite declaring itself an anti-racist denomination 30 years ago and that “white privilege is in the air we breathe.”

A second thing he noticed in his research is that there is hardly a day when people of color were not affected by racism on some level.

“And I've drawn the conclusion that in conversations like these, where we're looking for pathways to ending racism and pathways to racial equity," Dorhauer said. "It cannot be the vision, the dream, the pathway enacted by white people that gets us there.

“It has been my consistent experience that even the best-intentioned, kindest-hearted white people participate in the work of ending racism long enough to assuage their guilt, but not fight long enough to begin the impact of racism and privilege.”

He called on white churches to take a more active role in dismantling systemic patterns of racism.

The conversation hosted

by the Racial Equity Center is part of an ongoing discussion following the release of the Lorain County Racial Equity Agenda.

The 51-page agenda identifies six pillars including health, education, housing, economic justice/workforce development, criminal justice/community policing and community history.

Jeanine Donaldson, executive director of the Elyria YWCA, oversaw the Racial Equity Center and the equity agenda is part of a process to do things differently after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin that sparked protests and outrage across the nation.

“We called on the help of key leaders in the community and many of them are here with me today. And we've been meeting (for) probably 20 months. And the culmination of that time period was the racial equity agenda,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson explained she sees the Racial Equity Center and agenda as a continuation of advocacy work done through Elyria

YWCA and has developed it using the community impact model in utilizing data to drive transformative change.

She said it was important for the community to get comfortable using the term racism as a way of properly framing the issue in order to address its root causes.

The speaker hosted panel discussions with faith leaders in addition to community leaders.

Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield hosted an open forum following the death of George Floyd welcoming Elyrians to talk about their experiences with racism in the city.

The forum led to Elyria City Council declaring racism as a public health crisis. However, the mayor said the community needs to do the work of having the difficult conversations, pointing to poverty rates for people of color that have been about double that of white residents over the past 20 years.

In receiving millions in American Rescue Plan Act funding from the federal government, Whitfield

Oberlin Community Services hosts furniture sale fundraiser

Oberlin Community Services will host a used furniture sale fundraiser from noon to 4 p.m. on March 4 and 11 at its new Community Resource Hub, 500 E. Lorain St.

The nonprofit will sell used office furniture including filing cabinets, pictures, frames, cubicles, bookshelves and other assorted items acquired with the building, which was purchased from the National Association of College Stores for $2.7 million in June 2022.

Sales will help support renovations to the facility, which will house several nonprofits and become the new home of OCS’ food pantry, financial assistance office and educational programs.

wants the community to have more open dialogue about how the city can address systemic issues whether it is housing, employment, gun violence or education.

Nathan Russell, senior pastor of Washington Avenue Christian Church, told the audience in understanding the church’s response it is necessary to dig deeper and understand the church is not monolithic in recognizing the complexities of different congregations.

“Racism is not the problem of people of color. They did not create it — people who look like me did,” Russell said.

The question, Russell said, is what is the white church doing to foster reconciliation, adding the Christian story is one of repentance, repair and reconciliation.

“So my message to the white church here now again, in the season of Lent, is to get serious about confessing the sin of racism, the sin of white privilege, and the sin of our complicity and our silence," Russell said.

The fundraiser will take place in a first-floor space that will become OCS’ choice food pantry. Staff will accept cash, credit card or Venmo payments.

All sales are final, and buyers must remove and transport purchased items.

“Every sale we can make will help us pay for a larger, more efficient space so we can help more people,” OCS Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator Rosa Gadsden said in a news release. “Buy a chair? It helps us get more food to your neighbors who are struggling.”

OCS was founded in 1955 and is best known for its food pantry. The organization also provides relief to people in southern Lorain County who need help covering a utility bill, rent, mortgage payment or emergency expenses such as car repairs.

Oberlin Community Services seeks volunteer drivers

OBERLIN — Rising grocery prices are straining Lorain County residents’ wallets. For many, a lack of accessibility to food is also a tough reality, according to Oberlin Community Services.

The nonprofit is looking for volunteer drivers who can commit to delivering groceries on a weekly basis to people in Oberlin, Wellington, Kipton and surrounding townships. A majority of recipients are seniors and people with disabilities, many who cannot drive.

“For people who can’t get to us, volunteer drivers are a lifeline,” said Rosa Gadsden, who runs OCS’ volunteer and outreach programs.

To help, volunteers must have a vehicle large enough to carry several boxes. Contact Gadsden at rosa@oberlincommunityservices.org or (440) 774-6579.

To sign up to receive meals, contact out to Food Programs Coordinator Liv Hanson at liv@oberlincom munityservices.org or (440) 774-6579.

BRUCE BISHOP | The Chronicle-Telegram

At the Lorain County Racial Equity Forward Speaker Series a panel discussion was held with Rev. A. G Miller, House of Lord Fellowship, Rev. Nathan Russell, Washington Avenue Christian Church, Imam Paul Hasan, Interfaith Ministries, and Rev. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister/President United Church of Christ.

Photo provided Oberlin Community Services will sell used office furniture to help fund renovations from 12-4 p.m. March 4.

4-H

Lorain County 4-H clubs will host an open house 6-8 p.m. March 9 at the Lorain County Joint Vocational School. 4-H is for youth ages 5-19, with a variety of programs and projects available including animals, computers, public speaking, cooking, art, gardening and STEM.

4-H Clubs meet nine to 12 months out of the year, one to two times per month. Lorain County has nearly 60 clubs. For more information visit lorain. osu.edu or call the Ohio State University Extension office at (440) 326-5851.

4-H week is March 5-11.

Amherst Garden Club

The Amherst Garden Club will meet 6:30 p.m. today in the hall at the Amherst Historical Society, 113 S. Lake St. This Welcome Back meeting will discuss the 2023 plant sale, programs, goals and signing up for gardens and committees. Anyone interested in gardening is welcome to attend. New members can pay $15 dues when they join. For questions, contact Gina Welch at (440) 759-2314

Herrick Memorial Library

The Herrick Memorial Library Board of Trustees will hold their next monthly board meeting on 10:30 a.m. March 13 in the Library’s Community Room. This meeting is

THE OSCARS

BULLETIN BOARD

open to the public.

Amherst Golf League

The Amherst City golf league has openings for players for the upcoming season. Two man teams or singles to play as subs or regulars are needed. This is a men’s league, mostly retirees, for fun with competition. We play Tuesday afternoons at Forest Hills. Please contact Gregg at 440-277-7349 if interested.

Pancake

breakfast

The Amherst Cross Country Girls team will host a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. March 26 at the Amherst Eagles Club, 1161 Milan Ave.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth ages 3-10 and children 2 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or from any member of the girls team. Checks should be made payable to Amherst Athletic Boosters. Pancakes are all you can eat.

Avon-Avon

Lake Republican Club

At 6 p.m. March 9 the Avon-Avon Lake Republican Clubwill host Lt. Gov. Jon Husted who will speak about Lorain County’s role in high-tech manufacturing opportunities. Also speaking are state Reps. Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, and Dick Stein,

The Lorain County Community Guide Bulletin Board is for local nonprofit and not-for-profit events. Items are published on a space-available basis and will be edited for style, length, and clarity. Send your items to news@lcnewspapers.com

R-Norwalk at the Knights of Columbus Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd. Avon.

The Club meets on the second Thursday of each month. Snacks and Refreshments will be available. Members free and guests $5.

Knights of Columbus

● University Hospitals Fitness Program Introduction will be presented at 7 p.m. March 16 in the Knights of Columbus Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd. Avon. Renee Barrett, will present on cardiovascular and strength training benefits and methods and ways to keep motivated. Please RSVP by 3/13 to rudybreglia@gmail.com. Snacks and refreshments will be served. Public is welcome.

● “Knights at the Races” Event Takes Place at 7 p.m. March 25. Doors open at 5 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Father Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd. Avon. Tickets are $25 per person for dinner and access to betting. Mail Checks to Father Ragan Hall, PO Box 224, Avon, OH 44011and Make Payable to Fr. Ragan Council #3269. For Reservations/Information Call Pete Catanese at (440) 4654946 RSVP by March 7 for

Lorain County Democratic Women’s Club

Ads with Your Name(s), the Number Attending, Your Phone Number, email Address and Check.

● St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef Dinner-ToGo cooked and served by Genuine Irish Leprechauns. $18 for Corned Beef Sandwich with Swiss Cheese on Rye; Kosher Dill Pickle, Cole Slaw, Horseradish, Mustard & Cake. Contact Pete at 440-465-4946, pcatanese7@gmail.com or John at 440-725-7369, john.pabin@gmail.com with #meals and a pick up time from 4-7 p.m. March 17 at Father Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd. Avon. Since only a limited number of meals are prepared, preorders are strongly recommended.

Avon Democratic Club

Join the Avon Democratic Club for its meeting at 6:30 p.m. April 13 at the Avon Senior Center, 36784 Detroit Rd. All are welcome.

Candidates Geoffrey Smith and Wayne R. Nicol will discuss their campaigns for Municipal Judge of the Avon Lake Courts, serving Avon Lake, Avon and Sheffield Village.

To learn more about the ADC, visit our website at www.avonohdems.com.

The Lorain County Democratic Women’s (LCDW’s) Club will meet at 5:30 p.m. March at Royal Grill Sushi Buffet at 5234 Cobblestone Road, Sheffield, OH 44035

To learn more about the LCDW, visit our website at www.LCDWOhio.com or our Facebook site.

Black River Audubon Society

● The Black River Audubon Society is pleased to welcome Chad and Chris Saladin and their program “Cleveland Peregrines” on March 7, 7pm, at Carlisle Reservation Visitor Center, 12882 Diagonal Road, LaGrange.

Chad and Chris Saladin are a husband and wife team with an obsessive passion for peregrine falcons. They were official peregrine falcon nest site monitors in the Cleveland area for the Ohio Division of Wildlife from the 1990s until the monitoring project ended in 2015 as peregrines recovered adequately enough to no longer be considered as “threatened” in Ohio. Their program will highlight the many adventures they have experienced with peregrines as well as address their future.This program is free to the public.

● The Black River Audubon 65 Year Anniversary Outstanding Speaker program will feature wellknown naturalist, author and birder Scott Weidensaul and his program “A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds” on March 25 at 3pm at the Carlisle Reservation Visitor Center, 12882 Diagonal Road, LaGrange.

This program is free for members, $10 for nonmembers. Pre-registration for attendees is required and tickets can be purchased by following the link at www.blackriver audubon.org

Amherst Public Library

● The Amherst Public Library Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting at the library at 5:45 p.m. March 13. The meeting is open to the public.

● An Oscars Trivia Contest is now underway at the Amherst Public Library.

Jump key

Call to Mary

8. Big do 9. Cattail, e.g. 10. *”____ Harris Goes to Paris,” Best Costume Design nominee 12. Tarzan and such 13. Like beer at a kegger (2 words) 14. *”The Banshees of Inisherin” nominee 19. Polynesian dance, pl. 22. Dress like Ancient Greeks

23. *Austin Butler’s gyrating character 24. Gallows loop 25. Oil crisis

26. *Last year’s Best Picture winner

27. Like a Druid, e.g. 28. Missouri River tributary

29. Flying nuisance

32. Lend a hand in crime 33. Order’s partner

Entry forms are available in the first floor Adult Services area through March 13, with statuettes throughout the first floor to find answers.

Correct and completed forms will be placed in a grant prize drawing for a Movie Night Pack, and bonus entries are available to those who find and check out a specially selected item.

The contest is for those 16-and-older.

● Art workshops are back. At 12:30 p.m. March 13 local artist Mary Jo Clak will lead a workshop on watercolor pencils.

Those interested will need a set of watercolor pencils, pink erasers, a no. 8 round Taklon bruce, a natural sponge, a half-inch foam brush, an ultra-fine Sharpie or .02 Micron pen and 140-pound watercolor paper.

Classes are for adults and registration is required by calling the library at (440) 988-4230 or visiting amherstpubliclibrary.org.

● Tabletop game time will meet at 5:30 p.m. March 14. The group, for teens and adults, meets the second Tuesday of every month.

A variety of two to six player card, strategy and party games will be available.

● Nostalgic cartoons are on deck at 3:30 p.m. March 16 for the Cartoon Club. The program is intended for ages 10-17.

Oberlin Library

The Oberlin Public Library Board of Trustees will hold a regular meeting at the library on Thursday, March 9 at 5:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.

NAMI of Lorain County

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Lorain County will host its family to family educational class from 6-8:30 p.m. Tuesdays from March 7 to April 25. The free, eight-session program is designed for family, significant others and friends of people with mental health conditions. Each session is taught by NAMI trained family members.

To register, or for more information, call (440) 2408477 or email office@ namilc.org

Four

cli , or even a mountain and thought you could see a face?

In 1924, the American sculptor Gutzon Borglum was invited to the Black Hills in South Dakota to turn a mountain into an enormous sculpture. When he looked at one of the mountains, he saw that he could carve the faces of four of our presidents there.

Our 16th President ended the Civil War and slavery.

The

Grow a Picture

You can make a small picture larger in much the same way Borglum and Ziolkowski expanded small sculptures into mountain-sized ones.

Look at the small drawing of Crazy Horse. It is drawn in a grid of small boxes.

To the right is a grid with larger boxes. Copy the drawing of Crazy Horse, one box at a time, and you will make a drawing that is larger than the original. One box is done for you.

Memory Buddies

Standards Link: Language Arts: Summarize main ideas in writing.

Have a family member take a guess at answering these questions. Use the code to check their answers.

1.

The people of South Dakota hoped the monuments would attract tourists to their state. And attract tourists they do. Nearly 3 million people visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial every year.

Crazy MemorialHorse

The 26th U.S. President helped to grow the country at home and abroad. A mountain in the Black Hills is being carved into the shape of a man. It is a giant carving of Crazy Horse, a fearless and famous Lakota war leader.

Carve Out the ABCs

Choose one page of the newspaper. Find five or more words and write them on another sheet of paper in ABC order.

Standards Link: Identify cause and effect using visual cues.

When finished, the Crazy Horse Memorial will be the biggest sculpture in the world.

Chief Standing Bear and other Native American chiefs invited sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve the Crazy Horse Memorial out of a mountain. Work began over 70 years ago, and it will take many more years to complete it.

How tall are the faces on Mt. Rushmore? feet tall

2.

How wide are the eyes on Mt. Rushmore? feet wide

3.

How long are the noses on Mt. Rushmore? feet long

4.

How wide are the mouths on Mt. Rushmore? feet wide

5.

How tall is the face on the Crazy Horse Memorial? feet tall

6.

How long is the outstreched arm on the Crazy Horse Memorial? feet long

7.

How long is the pointing nger on the Crazy Horse Memorial? feet

8.

How tall is the horse’s head on the Crazy Horse Memorial? stories tall

Learn more about these monuments by visiting: crazyhorsememorial.org www.nps.gov

This week’s word:

MONUMENT

The noun monument means something built in memory of a person or event.

Mt. Rushmore is a monument that honors four U.S. Presidents.

Try to use the word monument in a sentence today when talking with your friends and family members.

If I Were President

Imagine that you have been elected President of the United States. What would you do? What would you change?

presidents were chosen to be carved into Mt. Rushmore. Unscramble the name of each president. The clues will help you.

Who is carved into Mount Rushmore?

first president of the United States.

OREGEG TAWGONHISN

Third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.

MOTSHA FEFEJORSN DOORTHEE VELSTROEO

ARMAAHB COLLNNI

Mt. Rushmore

The Black Hills are filled with wildlife. Prairie dogs romp and play in the fields and meadows. Can you find the prairie dog that looks different than all the others?

© 2023 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Je Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 39, No. 13

Play this game with a buddy. Choose a picture from the newspaper. Study the picture for one minute. Then cover the picture and take turns telling each other everything you can remember about it.