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Volume 10, Issue 42
County gets $927,000 grant for seniors DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
The Ohio Department of Aging has approved its application for a $927,000 grant that will assist senior citizens in Lorain County with food, housing and other social services, the Board of Commissioners learned Friday. It also learned that one of the top advocates for senior LAUREN citizens KSIAZEK in county government is in her last week on the job after taking a new position elsewhere. The one-time Healthy Aging Grant was made possible through federal funding to the state of Ohio for distribution to each Ohio county, Deputy County Administrator Karen Perkins said earlier this week. Perkins submitted the application for the funding, which she said can be used to help Lorain County senior citizens with food, housing, mental health services, community and living conditions, and social connectedness. Lauren Ksiazek, executive director of the Lorain County Office on Aging, said in an email that she was “so pleased that our county government made this a priority to pursue and secure for older adult residents in Lorain County. “The Healthy Aging Grants are a new line item in the Ohio Department of Aging’s biennium budget, aimed at supporting older adults across Ohio by supporting local services and initiatives,” she wrote. “These dollars, amounting to approximately $927,000 for Lorain County, will go towards initiatives such as food assistance, housing assistance, internet access and digital literacy, and other evidence-based programming designed to support older adults as they age in their community.” Ksiazek wrote that she has been in contact with county officials about her recommendations and insights “into this important opportunity to support older adults in Lorain County.” “I am very appreciative of AGING PAGE A2
Cemetery walk brings history back to life OWEN MACMILLAN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
AMHERST — Dozens gathered in small groups and toured the Cleveland Avenue Cemetery this weekend, but their experience was more educational than spooky. “By My Lantern’s Light” tours through the cemetery were hosted by the Amherst Historical Society and neighboring St. Paul Lutheran Church on Oct. 21 and 22 Actors waited throughout the cemetery, standing beside the gravestone of prominent figures in Amherst and local area history who found their final resting place on Cleveland Avenue. As small groups arrived at each site, the actors would embody the deceased, sharing their story and how they came to live in and shape the area. “Our people love to portray the characters,” Amherst Historical Society Executive Director Sandy Kaiser said. “They really get into the stories, they study … they are interested in acting in a small way, but also imparting history.” While the stories were not scary several of them were tragic, like the story of Jacob Herwig shared by Tim Branscum. “Mine is really a tearjerker, I try to hit them in their feelings,” Branscum said. Branscum told the story of Herwig, a German immigrant who came to own a farm only miles from the Cleveland Avenue Cemetery in the 1840s. Tragedy struck Herwig and his family on July 26, 1863, when
OWEN MacMILLAN | The Community Guide
MAIN: Tom Jewell portrays Clayton Engle during the Amherst Historical Society’s “By My Lantern’s Light” cemetery walk.
ABOVE: Norman Brydon Miller portrays his own ancestor, Joseph Richardson Miller, during the Amherst Historical Society’s tour of the Cleveland Avenue Cemetery in Amherst on Sunday, Oct. 22. seven members of Herwig’s family were killed in a drowning incident in Beaver Creek while taking their horse-drawn carriage to church. Branscum’s eyes grew dewy as he relayed the story as if it truly had happened to him. He even delved into the history that followed the tragic deaths, explaining that generations of
retelling of the story had warped and confused the details. “I just enjoy sharing the history of North Amherst and our town,” Branscum said. “It’s good that people are remembering.” Kaiser said that it was the enthusiasm with which volunteers like Branscum embraced the event that made it special. “(Branscum) was on YouTube
INSIDE Trick-or-Treat and other Halloween activites ● A3
all week learning how to do a German accent,” Kaiser said. “He came over to the office one day and he said ‘I want to practice my CEMETERY PAGE A4
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Witches Walk ● A3
Oberlin
Wellington
Ruby Jones scholarship ● A5
Main Street Wellington lauded ● A4
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8