Carnival

tradition benefits Wellington students throughout the summer

Former EMA director resigns from county

Less than a week after being replaced as head of the Lorain County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Jessica Fetter resigned.

Director since June 2021, Fetter sent a two-line email to county HR Director J.R. White that was copied to County Administrator Jeff Armbruster and Deputy County Administrator Karen Perkins: “Please accept this email as my official resignation from the Emergency Management Agency and the County of Lorain. This will be effective as of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 12,” she wrote in the email, obtained by The ChronicleTelegram.

“The county and I are going in two different directions,” Fetter said April 13 when reached for comment.

Fetter was hired by the Lorain County Board of Commissioners to replace her former boss, Tom Kelley, upon his retirement in 2021. She had worked at EMA as an emergency operations manager for 2½ years prior to that.

management in Wayne County. He is scheduled to start Monday. After delivering the news to her on April 6, Armbruster and Perkins offered Fetter the chance to go back to her old position as emergency operations manager, she told the Chronicle on April 11. Commissioners also announced they were replacing Lorain County 911 Director Jeff Young, the former Sheffield Fire chief, with former Avon Lake mayor Rob Berner.

Commissioners said they were impressed with Berner’s credentials, including his master’s degree in public administration, and said plans are to merge EMA with 911. He also is scheduled to start Monday.

Neither Fetter nor Young was fired after the new directors were hired. Commissioners said they hoped to find roles for both former directors.

Wellington High School saw a great turnout for the 13th annual Duke Pride Carnival on April 13.

The carnival’s proceeds provide meals throughout the summer to students who receive free or reduced lunches during the school year.

Nadia Greer, 17, and Naudika Boden, 16, posed with Stomper, the Lake Erie Crushers mascot, as Bryant Santee, 17, took their photo during the Duke Pride Carnival.

Commissioners voted unanimously on April 7 to replace Fetter with William “Dave” Freeman, currently the director of emergency

Young’s replacement was met with criticism by county fire chiefs, who backed their former peer. They questioned Berner’s credentials and ability to fill the role.

Couple thanks Eaton Twp. ‘angels’

Rhonda Lee Smith-Jones

Rhonda Lee Smith-Jones (nee Currier), 71, of Amherst, passed away Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain. Arrangements by Hempel Funeral Home.

Community rallies to pay for kitten’s surgery

CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

SHEFFIELD LAKE —

Mavrick Spelich and his kitten, Max, have been inseparable since the pair met a few months ago.

But when the 4-monthold kitten took a tumble from the 5-year-old’s top bunk bed and broke her leg, it left Mavrick’s mom, Jenna Nieves, distraught at the prospect of being unable to pay for the surgery Max needed.

“It’s just so hard because like I was telling the surgeon, do I tell my kid his cat’s not coming home or we have to amputate the poor kitten’s leg … It’s our mortgage payment, it’s our car payment, it’s groceries for weeks,” she said. “No one just has that much money laying around.”

Max is Mavrick’s emotional support animal. The 5-year-old has Chiari malformation, causing extra fluid to build on his brain, which disrupts his sleep, Nieves said, and during the day he has some ADHD and anxiety.

After discussing it with Mavrick’s pediatrician about a month ago, Max was approved as an emotional support cat and “when they’re together, he’s amazing,” his mom said.

“I’ve never seen a little kid love an animal so much,” she said.

The first emergency trip to West Park Animal Hospital in Cleveland cost about $800 for X-rays and pain medication for the little orange cat, and even after a deep discount on the services from the surgeon, it was still an estimated $1,500 for Max’s required surgery.

Without the surgery, she would either need to have the leg amputated — as the kitten’s unsuccessful jump had damaged a growth plate in her leg — or the family would have to surrender Max for a shelter to take over her care.

“You pick your life and your bills and your groceries over your animal, how do you do that?” she said. “So I was like I just need to do everything I can. And he’s like ‘Hey mom, how about we do a lemonade stand?’”

So Nieves took to Facebook, hoping she’d get some help from her community.

And Sheffield Lake didn’t disappoint.

Nieves woke up to an envelope of cash from a local motorcycle club, and as family and friends helped Mavrick staff his lemonade stand, visitors were paying well over the $1 asking price for a cup of pink or regular lemonade.

On April 13 they’d collected $1,560 — with the lemonade stand alone bringing in about $1,250.

Any funds beyond what was needed for Max’s surgery would be donated to West Park Animal Hospital’s fund to help other families in need, Nieves said.

“I just thought this would be maybe a couple hundred dollars. ... It gives me faith in humanity, and I truly mean that. There’s a lot of crap in the world and a lot of mean people and people with bad intentions and it’s just amazing (to see this happen),” Nieves said.

ELYRIA — Longtime Lorain

County Democratic Party Chairman

Tom Smith has died at age 81 and is being remembered for his impact on Lorain County

Smith is remembered by friends and colleagues as a mild-mannered voice of reason who helped steer Lorain County in a positive direction for a generation.

Board of Elections Director Paul Adams, who also serves as chairman of the Lorain City Democratic Party, said several people had contacted him Saturday about Smith’s death and honored his steadfast wisdom.

“Tom was always the calm voice of reason and stability. Never one to raise his voice in anger, and the first to work toward common ground. His style of leadership was the steady hand in Lorain County politics for decades I grew to admire.”

Smith served as chairman of the Lorain County Democratic Party between 1992 and 2012 and was a Board of Elections member between 1990 and 2021, leading the county Democrats for a generation before passing the torch to Anthony Giardini.

He resigned from the Board of Elections in January 2021 for health reasons.

Current Lorain County Democratic Party Chairwoman Sharon Sweda remembered Smith for setting a positive tone for leadership. A loyal party supporter, he was a consensus builder and a free thinker but down to earth and friendly for someone as intelligent as he was, she said.

“He would always let you know his thoughts. He would lay out the way he thought things needed to go. But he would always be a fair consensus participant. So that if perhaps the overall consensus went a way different than what he wanted, he didn’t he didn’t have sour grapes, he didn’t go stomping out of the room, he didn’t refuse to participate. He supported what was best for the group, and what the group wanted to do,” Sweda said. He was constantly trying to improve the people he worked with, supporting and coaching them for the betterment of all.

“Just a solid guy. He was always leading with integrity. He was dedicated, he was a hard worker. He was supportive of anybody in the party who was perhaps leading different charges that he wasn’t hands on, he would always still want to weigh in and, and give them his thought, his angle so that maybe they’d be better,” Sweda said.

Shortly after Sweda took office, the party named Smith as their first chair emeritus, honoring him for his leadership. Up until this year Smith continued attending Democratic Party meetings and remained involved, desiring a seat at the table.

Sweda noted Smith was particularly concerned about the role of dark money in politics and the $60 million House Bill 6 corruption scandal that led to convictions for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder among others.

Smith did much of the background research for Lorain County Democrats and Sweda believes he would’ve been pleased at the outcome.

‘A friend to all’

Sheffield Mayor John D. Hunter remembered Smith as a friend to him and said he was a friend to everyone in Lorain County as a fierce advocate for Lorain County Community College and as someone who worked across the aisle to improve quality of life for all.

A native of Sheffield Village, Hunter has known Smith for 60 years and was a dear friend to him. Their paths crossed both personally and professionally. Smith served as the attorney for UAW Local 2000 in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s when

JEFF BARNES | The

Community Guide

Ken Scheckelhoff surprised Eaton Township firefighters during an open house April 15. Scheckelhoff visited the fire department to thank first responders for saving his life on Aug. 6, when he had a heart attack at the gas station at State Routes 57 and 82. Seated in the middle are Regina McClure and Ken Scheckelhoff. Standing are (left) Jack Bailey, Andrew Brumfield, Brandon Urig, Matt Schutz, Kevin Blair, and Chris Becker.