Lorain County Community Guide - April 27, 2023

Sheriff: We are investigating radio controversy

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into the way the county has gone about securing a new emergency radio system for deputies and other emergency first responders, Sheriff Phil Stammitti announced Monday.

The matter has been an object of controversy since January and provoked

heated reactions from two of the three elected Republican county commissioners on Monday.

Stammitti, a Democrat, announced in a news release that his office is probing the “methods and processes which have taken place as it relates to Lorain County’s efforts to secure a new radio system for first responders.”

Stammitti said Commissioner David Moore first called for an investigation

Amherst mayor: City in good standing

training and equipment in 2022, Costilow said.

in August 2021, as did a Chronicle-Telegram editorial from December 2021.

More recent requests have come from Commissioner Michelle Hung and the Lorain County Fire Chiefs Association, Stammitti wrote.

“Allegations of impropriety and backroom deals relating to this project have been made by various people and entities now for over 20 months which have been disrupting the op-

erations of county government,” he wrote.

“The sheriff’s office has not looked into these allegations as we were under the belief that the matter was being looked at by other investigatory bodies. After receiving complaints directly asking our office to look into the matter we inquired and learned that no investigatory body was looking into this matter,” Stammitti wrote.

The sheriff’s office “has

an obligation to look into these allegations as seekers of fact not only to ensure that no crimes have been committed but as a matter of public transparency” — transparency, he wrote, “which so many … local officials claim to want as well.”

“We hope to receive cooperation from all parties involved. If we do, we should be able to determine quickly if violations of law have (been) or are occur-

ring,” he wrote. Stammitti said his office will have no further comment until the investigation is completed.

Moore slammed Stammitti’s announcement, saying he’s been “doing (Stammitti’s) job for 18 months.”

The sheriff’s investigation “lacks credibility,” he said.

For months, Moore and fellow Republican

AMHERST — Amherst remains in good financial standing, Mayor Mark Costilow reported April 24.

Costilow, now in his eighth year as mayor, delivered his State of the City address during Monday’s regular City Council meeting.

The city’s general fund remains in good standing, he said, carrying over $2 million into this year.

The general fund, funded primarily with the city’s tax revenue, supplies the bulk of funds for day-today expenses and projects within Amherst. Grants have helped offset needed to spend local tax dollars, Costilow said, including a $2 million reduction in street costs through public and private partnerships for 6 miles worth of roadwork set to start this summer.

Amherst police are also directly supported by the general fund and have taken steps to improve its efficiency, including investing in new technology and increasing manpower to now be fully staffed.

Amherst Police now have 24 full-time officers.

The department is also set to get body cameras this year, after receiving a $98,000 state grant to fund the purchase.

The department responded to more than 11,000 calls in 2022, Costilow said. Its fire department also stayed busy, responding to more than 500 fire calls and more than 800 firstresponder calls.

The Amherst Fire Department received more than $14,000 in grants for

Costilow expects residents will see a change in their utilities this year, as the water department budget could be left with little to no cash balance by the end of 2023 unless revenue is adjusted.

The city’s sewer and electrical funds are in better standing, though Costilow said City Council can expect to see an ordinance to set minimum fund balances to come to the floor this year — which may trigger rate adjustments to prevent a situation like the dwindling cash in the water fund.

For the city’s electric service, residents can expect more reliable service starting in 2024, as the city moves forward with a second point of entry into the city’s grid on the west side.

There are also continuous improvements underway for the city’s wastewater treatment, which has prevented more than 18 million gallons of partially treated water from overflowing into Beaver Creek.

Work also continues on an EPA-ordered flow study by CT Consultants, he said.

Looking toward the rapidly approaching summer — and the opening of the pool at Maude Neiding Park — Costilow said the city’s park board is discussing its options if it lacks full lifeguard staffing, including possibly limiting pool hours.

Holocaust Remembrance Program features survivor,

textile artist

LORAIN — Sewing has always been a part of Trudie Strobel’s life, but she didn’t find her voice for her art until her 40s.

The intricate embroidery that now fills her Los Angeles home was born from her mother’s hand-sewn work that kept the pair alive during the Holocaust, Strobel and her biographer, Jody Savin, told a filled auditorium at the Lorain Palace Theatre on Monday evening as part of a Holocaust Remembrance Day program.

The California-based textile artist was born in Ukraine, just months after her father brought back a beautiful doll from a trip. He gave the doll to Trudie’s mother, but not long after was a victim of Joseph Stalin’s “disap-

THOMAS FETCENKO | The Community Guide

MAIN: Holocaust survivor Trudie Strobel spoke to an audience gathered at the Palace Theatre, located in downtown Lorain, on Monday, April 24 as part of the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) program.

ABOVE: Arnie Milner, president of Agudath B’nai Israel Synagogue, in Lorain, spoke at the start of the Holocaust Remembrance Day program.

pearing” of Jewish men, Strobel and Savin said. Her father’s disappear-

ance — sent to Siberia — left Strobel’s mother to tend their family farm,

and work as a seamstress. It was work she managed

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MARK COSTILOW

Deanna Lee

Bealer

Deanna Lee Bealer, 81, of Wellington, died Monday, April 17, 2023 at Keystone Pointe. She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on August 30, 1941 to Ernest and Vivian (nee Kornprobst) Good and moved to Wellington at the age of 12.

Deanna graduated with the Wellington High School Class of 1960. For many years, Deanna worked as a machinist at Whirlaway in Wellington. She was a member of the First Congregational UCC in Wellington and served as a poll worker during local elections. She also enjoyed going to baseball games. Truly a selfless person, Deanna always devoted her time to her kids and grandkids. She also loved listening to country music.

She is survived by her adoring children, Denny Bealer of Wellington, David (Christine) Bealer of Elyria

Sally Ann Kochis

Sally Ann Kochis (nee Eddy), 89, of Amherst, received her angelic wings on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at the Avenue in North Ridgeville, following a full and meaningful life. Arrangements by Hempel Funeral Home, Amherst.

Mary Belle Golden

Mary Belle Golden (nee Buchanan), 79, of Birmingham, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain, following a full and meaningful life.

Amherst High School recieves water bottle station grant

AMHERST – The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced grants for water bottle filling stations at nearly 70 schools across the state, including one Amherst school.

Marion L. Steele High School’s Eco League received $3,716 to install the water bottle stations at the building.

bottle filling stations in more than 100 school buildings.

and Gail Bealer of Wellington; grandchildren, Jamie, Chase, Trey, and Taylor; four great-grandchildren; her brother, Ernest (Pat) Good, Jr. of Jacksonville, Florida and niece, Christine (John) Anderson.

Deanna was preceded in death by her sisters, Marlis Jean and Darlene. A private family graveside service will take place at Greenwood Cemetery.

Fond memories and condolences to the Bealer family may be given at www. norton-eastman funeralhome.com

Arrangements by Hempel Funeral Home, Amherst.

Linda Lou Abraham

Linda Lou Abraham (nee Starnes), a longtime resident of Amherst, was called home to be with her Lord and Savior on Saturday, April 15, 2023 at New Life Hospice Center of Lorain.

Hempel Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

David Stephen Szekely

David Stephen Szekely, 72, of Elyria, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023, 2023, at his home following a brief illness.

Hempel Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

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.

well until the Nazis came four years later.

A 650-mile march sent Strobel and her mother to a ghetto in Loche, Poland — a mere happenstance the pair weren’t sent to any of the concentration camps along the way, Savin said.

Loche was the worst place Strobel could remember, Savin said: Bodies littered the street and people were crammed together, all trying to negotiate their way out.

From there, the pair were herded onto cattle cars; the doll Strobel’s father got ripped from the little girl’s arms by a guard.

She remembered the Nazi’s black boots, and the gaping mouths of their dogs, ready to attack, she said.

They traveled in the car for days, before being brought to a camp outside Auschwitz. It was there, Strobel’s mother’s skills as a seamstress saved the pair, Savin said. Her mother’s work was vital to the Nazi war machine — and Strobel’s silence and invisibility was vital to her survival, Savin

said.

“They checked what everyone could do,” Strobel said. “And Momma could sew. This is why she was kept busy with sewing.

In a room there were just sewing machines and she sewed uniforms, blankets and whatever was needed … until one day, the door opened, and an American soldier came to the door (and said) ‘You’re free, the war is over.’”

From there, Strobel remembered picking her mother a handful of daisies once they were taken to a displaced-persons camp in Germany.

The theme of daisies, beauty, liberation, as well as barbed wire, and the ugliness of the war, are themes in Strobel’s work, Savin said.

Once in another displaced persons camp, Strobel was given a box with glass beads, and she and her mother embroidered a flying goose on a piece of fabric torn from her mother’s skirt, she said. Decades later, that goose still hangs in Strobel’s living room, she said.

Eventually, after several

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years living in Germany, Strobel and her mother came to the United States.

Strobel remembered when the captain pointed out the Statue of Liberty to the passengers and the tears shed by the newcomers to America.

Strobel and her mother took a train from New York City to Chicago, where they settled in and Strobel’s mother again found work as a seamstress. Strobel went to high school, and took up odd jobs after school, noting she was “the best potato peeler.”

At 18 years old, Strobel was introduced by a family friend to the man she would marry, Hans.

He was a German-American Jew who survived the Holocaust in hiding, Savin said, though all Strobel was concerned about when they first met was whether or not he’d be wearing lederhosen.

Instead, he was in a tan suit, sitting in their small, one-room apartment she said.

“Our eyes met, and I’m sure most of you met the love of your life through your eyes, she said. “We

were connected.”

About six weeks after their first, arranged meeting, the pair were married. And they were married for more than 55 years.

Savin said eventually Hans’ job transferred him to California, where he and Strobel would raise their two sons.

The pair never told their children they were Holocaust survivors until they were adults, Savin said — again Strobel keeping that part of herself silent and invisible. Until an incident at work with a particularly cruel supervisor brought those memories rushing back, Savin said. A deep depression blanketed Strobel. While she initially refused to speak to the psychiatrist her husband took her to, she started to open up when the doctor suggested she dress a doll like the one she had as a small child.

From there, Strobel began researching the history of the yellow Star of David they were made to wear under the Nazi regime, and found an 11-century history of Jews being identified for discrimination through

Ohio EPA just awarded Recycle Ohio grants to 68 schools, school districts, and dioceses in 41 counties. The money helps cover the cost of equipment to install or retrofit water fountains with water

Ohio EPA’s Recycling and Litter Prevention grant program made approximately $450,000 available to public and private K-12 schools statewide to promote the “Three Rs” –Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The bottle filling stations in schools encourage staff and students to use refillable water bottles to help reduce the use of singleuse plastic bottles and keep more plastic waste out of landfills.

Drug Take Back Day nets over 3,200 pounds of medication

ELYRIA — Lorain

County’s Drug Take Back Day netted more than a ton of prescription and over-the-counter medication turned in at local police departments.

April 22’s unofficial count was just shy of 3,200 pounds from law enforcement agencies throughout the county, Lorain County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Don Barker said. That total didn’t include

clothing or tags. It was the first embroidery series Strobel completed and brought to the Holocaust Museum in Los Angeles, Savin said. And the stitching Strobel started in her 40s never stopped. She continued to research, making tapestries of Jewish history, as well as portraits of her own relatives.

Her work all uses singlethread embroidery, Strobel said, and each piece contains Yemenite stitching — the same type cataloged in the Bible as a way to hem priest’s robes, Strobel said.

Looking out at the audience, Storbel cautioned them all to always remember the person next to them is never of lesser value.

“Once we understand this and use this in life, do you know I think we would have a peaceful world. This is where it starts when you think someone is of less value than you are … we must remember to do this so there will never be another Holocaust where you just pick on a group of people because of their religious belief,” Strobel said. “We can never have this again in our lives, in

everything collected from North Ridgeville Police. Police departments and Columbia fire opened their doors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, taking whatever medications were dropped off, no questions asked. Medications were boxed by each department, weighed by the Sheriff’s Office and will be turned over to Drug Enforcement Administration for disposal.

ever. The Holocaust was such a different persecution and murderous happening to our group of people. We can never forget, and we must always remember.”

Strobel and Savin were connected by Savin’s daughter, Maya Savin Miller, several years ago when Maya Savin Miller was getting ready for her bat mitzvah. At the time, Maya Savin Miller wanted to share her celebration with a young girl who died in the Holocaust and was given Strobel’s phone number.

The Savins and Strobel became close friends, and Jody Savin wrote Strobel’s biography, “Stitched & Sewn: The Life-Saving Art of Holocaust Survivor Trudie Strobel,” at her daughter’s suggestion.

For more information on Strobel, and Jody Savin’s biography of her, visit trudiestrobel.com.

Strobel will also speak at Oberlin College’s Dye Lecture Hall at 4:30 p.m. today.

For more information, email holocaustprogram@ gmail.com.

440-329-7122

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Gun violence summit comes to N. Ridgeville

NORTH RIDGEVILLE

— More than 250 students from close to 40 schools gathered at the North Ridgeville Academic Center for the fifth annual National SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit April 22, looking to address gun violence in their communities.

The program, organized by high schoolers from across the country, featured several speakers addressing gun violence, school shootings and student activism in its wake, including Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, 2019 Saugus High School shooting survivor Mia Tretta and Sandy Hook Promise co-founders Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley.

Recently reinstated, Pearson was once a member of the Sandy Hook Promise National Youth Advisory Board.

Looking out at those gathered in the Academic Center’s cafeteria, he was happy to be there, reminded there are people dedicated to ending gun violence.

“This doesn’t happen without ya’ll showing up and marching and speaking and writing letters and sending phone calls,” he said. “Your voice matters and when you engage in the process, it matters.”

Pearson, alongside Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, were expelled from the Tennessee Statehouse after leading a gun control protest on the House floor following a shooting at a Nashville school which left three students and three staff members dead. Fellow Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, who also protested, was spared expulsion by one vote.

Pearson and Jones have both been reinstated. And since their reinstatement, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is set to call a special session to address gun reform and public safety. He also signed an executive order earlier this month to tighten the state’s background check process. He compared the youths who protested in the Tennessee Statehouse, and those gathered at Saturday’s summit, to the children who marched in the civil rights movement.

“It gives so much hope that from Memphis to Milwaukee, New Town to Nashville, Charlotte to Atlanta, LA to Lexington we are building this movement,” he said. “And right now it is being built in such a way that the nation has to respond. Even in places

where we didn’t expect the nation to respond — like the South — even in places where we didn’t expect governors to respond — like Tennessee. … We are changing the narrative.”

That change is something Gary Weart, co-founder of Students Against Violence Everywhere, is determined to see come to fruition.

Weart and Dawne Orange co-founded SAVE 34 years ago after Orange’s son, Alex, was shot and killed at a party when students from a rival school showed up looking for trouble.

The 17-year-old was a very, very special person, Weart said, having had the young man as a student in his home room for nearly two years, in his World History class and on the football team he helped coach.

“Alex Orange was not my first student in my 15th year in teaching that I lost,” Weart said. “Alex was my eighth … and before I finished a 42-year career, it went up to 14 students. That’s 14 too many. It cannot keep happening.”

But Weart hasn’t lost hope in the “wind of change” that started with Alex’s friends and family in 1989, and have continued with the students involved in today’s protests and conversation surrounding gun violence.

Mia Tretta, a senior at Saugust High School in Santa Clarita, California, became an activist after she was shot her freshman year, and her best friend, Dominic Blackwell, was killed.

“Things were normal, until they weren’t,” she said.

“As we talked and joked, our laughter was interrupted by a bang, followed by several more.”

She, and four others, were shot by a 16-year-old student they didn’t know, an incident that left “a scar

on my stomach from a bullet, and a hole in my heart from the constant ache of losing my childhood and my best friend,” she said.

Since then, her advocacy has been a way to keep Dominic’s memory alive, and hopefully save the lives of others, she said.

“I think a lot of people overlook us as the youth voice, but you being here shows that you refuse to be overlooked,” she said. “And that is so inspiring to me.”

Sandy Hook Promise cofounders Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley also didn’t expect to be activists, until their children’s lives were cut short.

Barden and Hockley didn’t know each other when their sons were killed at a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. But their sons did, Hockley said.

Barden’s son, Daniel, was a boy drawn to helping others — picking up worms from the pavement and carefully placing them in the grass, seeking out classmates who may be left sitting alone.

Hockley’s son, Dylan, was autistic and not very verbal.

The pair had met in kindergarten and made a connection, she said.

“That connection is so critical and that’s what all of you are doing is creating those connections with each other,” she said.

Barden said he saw Daniel’s spirit of kindness and compassion in the young people at Saturday’s summit, and pledged to stand with them while they work to shift the culture around gun violence — knowing his son’s spirit is with them as well.

For more information on the group’s advocacy, visit sandyhookpromise.org.

CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

CARISSA WOYTACH | The Community Guide

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, speaks to more than 250 students from schools across the country during the fifth annual National SAVE Promise Club Youth Summit on April 22 at North Ridgeville Academic Center.

Sandy Hook Promise co-founders Mark Barden, right, and Nicole Hockley spoke to students Saturday about their sons, who were both killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012.

‘A Higher Law’ film debuts

OBERLIN — The Apollo Theater in Oberlin was host to the premiere of the locally filmed documentary Sunday.

Created by Scott Spears and Christina Paolucci, “A Higher Law: The Oberlin Wellington Rescue” portrays the story of John Price and the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.

The documentary explores how Price escaped slavery by crossing out of Kentucky over the frozen Ohio River and began to make his way north.

In 1858, Price was arrested in Oberlin by the U.S. Marshals and transported just south to Wellington, with the intention to eventually return him to slavery in Kentucky.

Abolitionists in Oberlin followed the marshal to Wellington and freed Price by force, before helping him along the Underground Railroad to eventual freedom in Canada.

The event was widely covered and discussed at the time, and is often point

RADIOS

FROM A1

Commissioner Jeff Riddell have been at odds with their fellow Republican commissioner Hung, the Lorain County Deputies Association, Lorain County fire chiefs and local elected officials — including Stammitti — over the acquisition of a modern, working emergency radio system.

Hung and former Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, voted in December to pay nearly $8 million to provide Cleveland Communications Inc.’s L3 Harris radio system to county agencies, as well as to give grants to other interested emergency response agencies.

Moore and Riddell terminated the contract over Hung’s objection in a 2-1 vote in January, claiming the contract was unethical, improper and possibly illegal. They have so far provided no evidence of their claims.

Cleveland Communications Inc. sued the county in Common Pleas Court, and the deputies association filed a grievance with

ed to as a pivotal moment in the abolition movement in the U.S.

“A Higher Law” portrays these events as well as the larger context of Oberlin and Ohio’s connection to abolitionism, John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry and the Civil War through documentary storytelling and reenactments.

The reenactments were filmed locally, and Oberlin residents, teachers and historians make up many of its interview subjects.

The film was made in collaboration with the Oberlin Heritage Center and supported by the Ohio History Connection and Ohio Humanities Council.

“The events of the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of 1858 played a pivotal role in the history of abolitionism in the United States, and ultimately kept the issue of slavery as part of the national discussion leading up to and during the Civil War,” a release from the Ohio History Connection said.

Stammitti.

The deputies and local fire chiefs who wanted the L3 Harris system have spoken publicly against the decision by Moore and Riddell to rescind the contract.

Elyria, Lorain, Oberlin, Rochester, Wellington and multiple township officials have expressed public support for the L3 Harris purchase and have asked commissioners to reinstate the deal with Cleveland Communications.

Proponents say it is the most modern system available and better than the MARCS system in use in most counties. The deputies association and county fire chiefs associations have said they fear the commissioners have made up their minds to choose MARCS, an acronym for “MultiAgency Radio Communications System,” instead of L3 Harris for political reasons.

Moore and Riddell have likewise accused the fire chiefs and deputies of playing politics.

Stammitti, the elected Lorain County sheriff for

WORK IN PROGRESS

PROVIDED | Oberlin Community Services

Interior walls and drop ceilings have been removed from the area that will become Oberlin Community Services’ new choice food pantry at 500 E. Lorain St., Oberlin. Kendal at Oberlin residents Fran and Roger Cooper donated $1 million to allow OCS to purchase the building in December from the National Association of College Stores. Williams Brothers Builders of North Ridgeville is renovating a large portion of the first floor over the next few months. OCS hopes to move in by early fall, provided there are no supply chain issues. At 27,000 square feet, the Cooper Community Resource Center will allow the nonprofit to provide food to more southern Lorain County families than ever — demand has been trending upward as grocery store prices rise.

more than 20 years, is expected to face a challenge from Republican Jack Hall in 2024.

“Welcome to the show!” Moore said sarcastically, in response to Stammitti’s announcement April 24.

Moore said he’s already had discussions about the radio controversy with investigators in state Auditor Keith Faber’s office.

The board of commissioners, then made up of Hung, Lundy and Moore, was subpoenaed by Faber’s office in January 2022 to produce documents related to the Lorain County 911 center on Burns Road and Cleveland Communications Inc.’s contract business there.

Faber’s office also asked for documents detailing “the planning for the implementation of a countywide radio and 911 system for local and county safety forces, including and ... all communications related to the statewide MARCS radio system,” and “the rental of use of the Lorain County 911 tower to Cleveland Communications Inc.,”

according to the subpoenas issued to the commissioners last year.

The state auditor also sought documents related to Hung’s attempt to get her brother a job in the county’s IT department. Ed Dobias did not end up being hired by the county.

Moore said he’s talked or is talking to “other divisions” about the radio controversy, but declined to say who they were. Stammitti “knows for a fact there’s been an issue with this for 18 months,” Moore said. “He’s too late. All the evidence and my tape-recorded testimony I’ve given. He’s a little late.”

“Retaliation is the only thing he’s (Stammitti’s) focused on,” Moore said. In her own news release April 22, Hung wrote that she is “confident” Stammitti “will thoroughly and professionally address this matter.”

She then attacked what she called Moore’s “fraudulent allegations regarding the radio communication project” since at least De-

cember 2021.

“It has been proven by reviewing the resolutions and meeting minutes going back to 2018 that the path to a safe radio communications project was underway before my election and tenure as county commissioner,” Hung wrote.

Moore “has improperly used the office of the Lorain County Board of Commissioners, on taxpayer-owned County letterhead, to level attacks against me,” she wrote. “(Sixteen) months later, Commissioner Moore has offered no proof to his allegations, just endless tirades that directly affect the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Lorain County.”

Hung wrote that she will “cooperate fully with any investigation,” as she has said she would since December 2021.

“I have cooperated fully and continue to cooperate fully,” she wrote. “It is my desire to stop these baseless allegations from continuing as Commissioner Moore has used this issue to dis-

rupt the operation of county government.”

She also questioned the hiring of the law firm Dooley Gembala McLaughlin Pecora Tucker of Sheffield to defend the board in the breach of contract lawsuit brought by Cleveland Communications Inc. in January.

“The taxpayers deserve to know why, after all these months, commissioners Moore and Riddell find the need to hire another law firm at taxpayers’ expense,” Hung wrote.

Moore “has ranted and raved for months about investigations that were happening. The Lorain County Board of Commissioners cooperated fully and submitted the requested documents to the office of the State Auditor, Keith Faber on February 14, 2022,” she wrote.

Riddell said he hadn’t had a chance to see or review Stammitti’s release.

Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson, whose office is legal counsel for both the sheriff and the commissioners, can’t weigh in.

• Start your adventure at any of the businesses on the map.

• Get this flyer stamped at each business and receive your Bag Lady gift. (Additional flyers at each location.)

• Search for a small wooden bag hidden at one of the above locations each day of tour. Find the bag and win a $20 gift certificate. When tour is completed turn in the flyer at last stop with contact info completed at top. If all stops are complete you will be entered into a drawing for a $25 first prize, or $15 second prize. Must be 13 & over for this drawing. You can turn in incomplete flyers to get or remain on the mailing list.

• Children under 13 on the tour will be given their own flyer to follow along for a chance to win $10.00.

Dukes best Wildcats

RUSS GIFFORD | The Community Guide

Wellington’s Trey Moore tags Keystone’s Brock Miller in a run down between second and third base. The Dukes took a 9-3 win against the Wildcats on April 20 at Keystone High School in LaGrange.

BELOW LEFT: Wellington’s CJ Polen sends the ball to the plate against Keystone.

BELOW RIGHT: Wellington’s Wayde Bowman lays down a bunt against Keystone.

Wrong number benefits Black River baseball

A wrong number and a text thread later, Black River Varsity Boys Baseball received a new benefactor.

When Anthony Fiorini, owner of Maverick Building Co., started receiving texts in a thread with about a dozen baseball moms, he could have quietly left the group chat.

After laughing at mistakenly being included in the thread, Fiorini talked with his business partners about the possibility

of donating to cover the meal the group chat was talking about.

“I feel like there’s a lot of situations that could be ignored or leaned into,” Fiorini said. “It’s fun to see where things can go.”

Christy Ladina was mistakenly given Fiorini’s number by Black River’s baseball coach as a number for one of the moms who was organizing donations to cover the food needed for a doubleheader game. The group of moms usually provides food for about 40 people — the boys on both baseball teams, as well as the coaches, trainers and any parents that

may wander by searching for a hotdog.

It was the third or fourth day of organizing the effort that Ladina got a thenanonymous text in that group chat from Fiorini — who said he may not be a baseball mom, but wanted to support what they were doing for the kids and wanted to cover the cost of the lunch.

“I was like ‘Oh my gosh, is this really true?’” Ladina said. “All the baseball moms and I started talking, I said I can’t believe how kind that is to step up and say that — let alone (not) be annoyed by multiple texts from the group chat.”

There were some initial doubts from

the moms, who continued to plan for the meal in case Fiorini’s donation didn’t work out. But one of the partners at Maverick Building Co. drove to Ladina’s home in Spenser with a $150 Visa gift card.

Fiorini said he and others with Maverick Building Co. all played baseball and sports in high school and were happy to help the team out.

He said they’ve been invited to a game this season and plans to come to a game or two — as his company is already working on housing developments in nearby LaGrange.

CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

LEFT: Wellington’s Riley Reyna dives head first safely into second base before Keystone’s Brock Miller gets the throw.

RIGHT: Wellington’s Trey Moore catches Keystone’s Brock Miller in a run down between second and third base.

Commissioners OK $4.3 million in federal funds to repair Gore Orphanage Road

DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted April 14 to accept $4.3 million in state funding for the replacement of the Gore Orphanage Road bridge in Henrietta Township about 20 years after it closed.

The board awarded a $4,276,401 contract to Schirmer Construction of North Olmsted to replace the bridge, one-third of a mile south of Becker Road.

The bid was the best and “most responsive” of two bids received April 6, commissioners said.

The project entails both replacing the bridge and reconstructing the road south of the bridge, currently closed to traffic after a sheet pile wall failed at least 20 years ago.

The project is expected to be done by July 30, 2024. The money is federal highway funds passed down through the Ohio Department of Transportation and the County Engineer’s Association of Ohio.

The bridge has been closed for years after the sheet pile wall failed in the early 2000s due to alleged design flaws, according to the ChronicleTelegram archives. The matter ended up in court, Assistant Lorain County Engineer Robert Klaiber told the Chronicle in April 2017.

Over the years, there

THEME:

Amherst Historical Society

wasn’t enough money to repair the bridge and road at a cost Klaiber estimated at $3.2 million six years ago. The project waited in line for federal funding for nearly five years.

Commissioner Jeff Riddell, a Henrietta Township resident, also asked that he be allowed to see all the bids on such projects in the future “so we know we’re spending prudently.”

In other business, commissioners voted 2-1 to approve a $250,000, twoyear consulting contract with K.E. McCartney & Associates, an engineering firm in Elyria, for general sanitary engineering services in 2023 and 2024.

Klaiber said the firm does expert engineering design work for his office on a task-by-task basis.

Riddell voted no, saying he didn’t see the need for a two-year contract when the county’s 2024 budget hasn’t been approved yet.

Klaiber said his office could easily seek out one-year contracts in the future.

Commissioners also OK’d an agreement for the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Board of Lorain County to spend $132,225 to provide medication-assisted treatment to eligible Lorain County Jail inmates through September.

That program was started in late 2019 to help inmates with substance abuse disorders detoxify in the jail.

BULLETIN BOARD

● Afternoon Tea is 1-3 p.m. May 21 at The Grange Hall in Sandstone Village. Please join us for tea and refreshments, enjoy beautiful wedding dresses on display, and tour the Village gardens maintained by the Amherst Garden Club. Tickets are $20 per person, $15 for members. Please RSVP by May 15 to (440) 988-7255 or office@amhersthistoricalsociety.org. Payments can be made by cash, check or card.

You can also register and pay by card using https://form.jotform. com/230463915767161

● Amherst Historical’s BBQ fundraiser is 5 p.m. May 26. Doors open at 5 p.m. and food, from Pogie’s Catering, will be served from 5:30-7 p.m. Tickets are $30 each, $25 for Amherst Historical Society members and are available by visiting pogies.loraincounty.com/e/ YWV, or by calling (440) 864-4654. Tickets are pre-order only by May 19. Amherst Historical Society members should order through the Society at (440) 988-7255.

Music will be by Linda Howell.

● The Sandstone Village Car and Bike Show will be June 4 with registration from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and the Car Show from 12-4 p.m. There will be a photo area, Village building tours, garage sales, a blessing of the cars and bikes, raffles, DJ, food court, and more! Spectator parking will be at Amherst Junior High School with

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

shuttle service to Sandstone Village.

● The Historical Society’s night with the Crushers is at 6:05 p.m. June 10. Tickets are $13, with a portion of sales benefiting the Amherst Historical Society. For more information, or help purchasing tickets, contact Tanner Carlson at (440) 934-8233 or tcarlson@lakeeriecrushers. com

● The Taste of History Military Living History event is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 17 at The Sandstone Village, 763 Milan Ave. The event will have samples of military food and rations, displays, kids’ activities and more.

Amherst Public Library

Amherst Library is celebrating National Library Week with the launch of six new items available for checkout with a library card: a Photo to Digital Converter, a Video to Digital Converter, a KillA-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor, a Cassette to MP3 Converter, a Film to Digital Converter, and an External DVD Drive. Log into the online catalog or call the library at (440) 988-4230 to place an item on hold for pickup at the library, its drive-up window or with a pickup

locker. Some items may only be available for inlibrary pickup due to size.

● 5/1 - Travel Affordably

● 5/3 - Student Art Show

Reception

● 5/4 - Pour Painting

● 5/6 & 5/16 - Canine

Reading Buddies

● 5/8 - Watercolor Pencils & More

● 5/9 - Tabletop Game

Time

● 5/12 - Wakin’ Up the Sunshine with Music

● 5/13 - Mermaid Movie

Matinee

Westwood Cemetery

● Stone cleaning at Westwood will be 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. the first Saturday of the month, May through October.

Cleaning techniques are easy and supplies are provided. Please bring any small gardening tools, gloves, and/or brooms to help remove debris. Please note that all participants will complete a volunteer form which will be provided once you arrive. Cleaning sessions depend on the weather; check our Facebook page for updates. Everyone is welcome. Location is Westwood Cemetery, 455 Morgan St, Oberlin.

● On Memorial Day weekend the Friends of Westwood Cemetery and Oberlin Heritage Center will be hosting a table to assist visitors in locating gravesites. The table will be inside the enterance gates and available 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 27-29, weather permitting.

Genesis House

Lorain County Safe Harbor’s Love Shouldn’t Hurt 5K and challenge virtual run/walk is June 11-25. Participants can raise awareness for domestic violence issues in Lorain County and honor the lives lost through this virtual event.

County lost to domestic violence since 1989. Registration is due May 22 via www.eventbrite. com/e/love-shouldnt-hurt5k-challenge-tickets-551791923497.

The six person team challenge is $240 per team; the individual 56mile challenge is $45 per person and the individual 5k is $40 per person.

University Hospitals

University Hospitals will offer free stroke screenings throughout May for Stroke Awareness Month. Screenings are available locally 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 10 at UH-Elyria Medical Center, 630 East River St., Elyria.

Oberlin Library

The Oberlin Public Library Board of Trustees will hold a Records Commission meeting, followed by a regular meeting, 5 p.m. May 11. Meetings are open to the public, and the discussion will include the 2024 Tax Budget.

Avon-Avon Lake Republican Club

The Avon-Avon Lake Republican Club Breakfast is 8-9 a.m. May 3 at Sugar Creek Restaurant, 5196 Detroit Rd. in the Sheffield Village Plaza. Attendees are responsible for their meals.

Political outsider, entrepreneur and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Bernie Marino will discuss his platform and plans, if elected.

Oberlin Community Services

of “Bewitched”

13. Relating to eye

“____

Middle East natives 24. Permissible 25. In a fitting way 26. Half a ticket 27. Sober Ness 28. Not a soul (2 words) 29. Operatic voice 32. *Home to Arches National

There is a traditional virtual 5k, as well as six-person teams and an individual, 56-mile challenge. The 56 mile challenge represents one mile for each person in Lorain

The Oberlin Community Services will host a “Beginner’s Guide to Renting or Buying” at 1 p.m. May 6at the Cooper Community Resource Center, 500 E. Lorain St., Oberlin. Jeffrey Keesee, mortgage loan officer for Northwest Bank, will discuss the pros and cons of housing options and how to prepare financially for either renting or purchasing a home. RSVP by calling (440) 774-6579 or emailing marla@oberlincommunityservices.org. \

The bills and coins you use to buy things in your country can look alot different from the money,or currency,that is used in other countries.

What shapes are the di erentcoins and bills in your country?

The origin of the $ sign is uncertain. Butmany historians believethat the P—for either SpanishorMexican pesos—was accompanied by asmall s above and to the right of it when the plural form was used. This pairing of letters wassimplified by keeping only the stem of the P and writing the S rightontop of it. Voila—thedollarsign!

Dollar Match

Match each of the dollarsigns withit’sidentical twin. Look carefully!One dollarsign has no duplicate

Some coins in theAfrican nation of Swaziland have scalloped edges.Find thetwo identical Swaziland coins.

Peoplewho have trouble seeing or reading can tellthe difference between coins that are worth differentamounts of money when the coinsare different shapesand sizes.

Which item in the vending machine costs themost?

Usethe code below to ndout.

In the United Kingdom, they use the Anickname for the is

Usethe code to nd out whatpeoplein Englandcall their money. 20¢25¢ 15¢5¢ 50¢

The euro is the money used by most countries in Europe. Before the euro was introduced, most European countries had their own currency,meaning their owncoins and banknotes.

When theytraveled, people had to change money eachtime theycametoa newcountry. For example, in Germany, you paidinDeutsch Marks, but if you left Germany andtraveled to France, you hadto exchange your DeutschMarks for French francs Europehas manycountriesclose together,which madefor alot of money changing!

The money used in China and Japan today was developed from thesilver dollarsintroduced by European andAmerican traders.The dollars were called yuan in China and yen in Japan.Translated,these wordsmean “round object.”

Standards Link: Economics: Know that different currencies are used in different countries.

Look throughthe newspaper forfive numbers with five or more digits. Cut out the numbers and glue each one’s digits onto a chart that shows how many ones, tens, hundreds, thousands,ten thousands, or more are in eachnumber

Cutout this boxand hold it up to a mirror to reveal theworld’s most popularcurrency.

Standards Link: Research: Find similarities and differences in commonobjects.

Complete the grid by using allthe letters in the word CASH in each vertical and horizontal row. Each letter should only be used once in eachrow Some spaces have been filled in for you.

Standards Link: Number Sense: Understand place value to the millions.