North Pointe Ballet hosts World Autism Awareness Day program

ELYRIA – A Lorain County-based dance troupe recognized World Autism Awareness Day on April 1 with a presentation at Lorain County Community College.

North Pointe Ballet hosted a screening of choreographer Janet Dziak’s work “Because of You,” which chronicles her family’s journey with her son’s Autism diagnosis.

“I had a son that wasn’t developing typically, we found out that he was on the spectrum and I had art to cope with that and he could cope and I have this wonderful network,” she said. “That’s how this piece got started.”

The 20-minute piece included Dziak dancing with her son, Lucas, and other performers, and later on the pair and two other dancers performed a live excerpt from the virtual program.

Dziak, of North Ridgeville, is an adjunct professor at Oberlin College, and executive artistic director of North Pointe Ballet. She created the dance piece originally in 2019, and then adapted it virtually in 2021 to be used in schools.

“Our mission is to make classical ballet accessible and it started with our sensory friendly initiative,” Dziak said. “Every main stage performance that we do, we dedicate one performance special for a sensory-friendly audience. The lights are on, sound is down and everybody’s kind of free to be themselves … That kind of developed into a community engagement program, a diversity program, so we’ve kind of branched out from that little spark of accessibility.”

The school adaptation was designed to meet social-emotional learning content standards for schools. It was designed with help from Amherst literacy coach Breanna Carden.

Carden, who was coached by Dziak as a child, said the educational resources have a song-byson recap and discussions for students.

Classes at Amherst Junior high participated in the program, including a virtual sensory simulator, experiencing “Because of You” from Lucas’ perspective.

Dziak said there are grants available to help bring the program to schools.

For more information on educator resources, email leanna@northpointeballet. org.

440.776.8379

JEFF BARNES | The Community Guide

The North Pointe Ballet performed a portion of “Because of You” live at the Lorain County Community College, Stocker Arts Center in Elyria on April 1. Performers of the live performance are, from left: Lucas Dziak, Alexander Radachi, Janet Dziak, and Elizabeth Radachi.

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Easter Egg Hunts

● The Amherst Lions club and Amherst Steele Leo Clubs will host its Easter Egg Hunt 11 a.m. April 8. The two clubs have been hosting the event since 1996.

The Easter Bunny will arrive at 10:30 a.m., courtesy of the Amherst Fire Department. There will be three separate hunt areas marked by age level: toddlers to 3-year-olds; 4-to-6-year-olds; and 7-to10-year-olds.

In addition to the candyfilled eggs, there will be specially marked eggs children can redeem for prizes at the end of the hung.

Parents are requested to not enter the designated areas when the hunt first begins, but to join the children a few minutes into the hunt. For those too young to walk on their own, the Easter Bunny will have plenty of eggs to hand out, Lions Club President Lori Elswick said in a news release. Parents of children with special needs can ask a Lion or Leo Club member for assistance.

The event is free, but donations support Amherst Lions vision care and other community projects. The Amherst Lions will also be collecting unwanted, used eye glasses to be recycled and distributed to those in need. Collection boxes will be set up.

For more information, visit Amherst Lions Club on Facebook or email Am herstOhioLions@gmail. com.

● The Rotary Club of Oberlin’s Easter Egg Hunt is 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. April

Bulletin Board

8 on the West College side of Tappan Square. It is for children ages 2-to-12years-old and will feature the Easter Bunny, face painting, games and other activities.

Herrick Memorial Library

The Herrick Memorial Library Board of Trustees will meet on Tuesday.

Amherst Historical Society

● 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

● 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 shuttle service to Sandstone Village.

● The Taste of History Military Living History event is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 17 at The Sandstone Village, 763 Milan

THEME: ANATOMY 101

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Ave. The event will have samples of military food and rations, displays, kids’ activities and more.

Pittsfield Community Church

● The Pittsfield Community Church’s “Springspiration Day” is April 18. Registration is at 10 a.m., concert at 10:30 a.m., salad lunch at noon.

For reservations, call Margaret at (440) 9655773 or Phyllis at (440) 647-347.

The special guest is Cheryl Wellert, CEO of DAT Travel and Christian Treasure Seekers, which plans family-friendly and faith-based vacations.

● The church’s Fish Fry Dinner is 5-7 p.m. April 14. Dine-in or carry-out available. Meals are $15 and all are welcome.

The church is located at the corner of state Routes 58 and 303.

Avon Democratic Club

Join the Avon Democratic Club for our meeting on 6:30 p.m. April 13 at the Avon Senior Center at 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. The Avon Lake Municipal Court serves Avon Lake,

Avon and Sheffield Village.

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

Avon-Avon Lake Republican Club

The Avon-Avon Lake Republican Club will meet 6 p.m. April 20 at the Knights of Columbus Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd., Avon. The evening’s speakers will be County Commissioners David Moore and Jeff Riddell and County Administrator Jeff Armbruster. Sarah McGervey, executive director of Right to Life of Northeast Ohio will also speak.

Members are free and guests are $5.

League of Women Voters Oberlin Area

The League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area will hold a public informational meeting about Ranked Choice Voting and what it could mean for Lorain County voters. The meeting is in the Dye Auditorium of the Oberlin College Science Center at 6:30 p.m. April 26. Speakers will include Justin Wells, the Co-Executive of Ranked Choice Ohio, and Duncan Buell, Chair Emeritus in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Carolina, a noted researcher in electronic voting, and currently visiting professor at Denison University. The meeting will consider what ranked choice voting has to offer the voters of Lorain County and what difficulties lie in wait before any implementation can happen. Parking will be available in the Woodland Street lot across from the science building.

Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus will present “Behind the Scenes: TV News” at 7 p.m. April 20 at the Knights’ Ragan Hall, 1783 Moore Rd. in Avon. Paul Orlousky, a recently retired TV news reporter and author will speak. RSVP by April 17 to rudybreglia@ gmail.com

Amherst Library

● The C.S. Lewis and Friends book group will meet at the Amherst Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the DeLloyd Room on the second floor. The group will finish its discussion of the sermon “A Slip of the Tongue” and then discuss the essay “The Inner Ring.” A copy of either item is available by emailing Marcia Geary at mgeary@gearylawllc.com or calling (440) 988-9803.

● Canine reading buddies is 6:30 p.m. April 18

● Celebrate spring with a short story contest. Youth of all ages are invited to enter the Amherst Public Library’s short story contest now through April 29. Winners will be chosen by May 5.

● The Easter Bunny will visit the library from 1-2 p.m. Saturday for photos.

● A watercolor pencil workshop is at 12:30 p.m. Monday. All skill levels are welcome. Students will need a set of watercolor pencils, pink erasers, a No. 8 round Taklon brush, a natural sponge, a half-inch foam bruce and an ultrafine Sharpie or .02 Micron pen and 140-pound watercolor paper. Classes are for adults and registration is required.

● The Tabletop Game Time group will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The club is for teens and adults.

To register for events, or for more information, call the library at (440) 9884230 or visit amherstpubliclibrary.org.

Ohio Genealogical Society

The Lorain County chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society will have a virtual program on finding ancestors in Census records at 7 p.m. Monday. The program is free and open to the public. Contact meetings@loraincoogs. org to receive a link to the meeting.

Spirit of ’76 Museum

The Spirit of ’76 Museum will be hosting a special event with extended hours to unveil the restored Willard painting “Primitive Dentistry”. Special hours will be 10:00 am to 3:30 p.m. April 15. The museum location is 201 North Main Street, Wellington. Any questions call (440) 647-4367.

Behavior Chat

Join Ochanya McRoberts-Wells, MEd, who will lead a discussion guided by your questions on a variety of behavior topics virtuall at 6:30 p.m. April 18. Submit your questions before or during the session and learn how to use the tools in our Behavior Toolkit to help your child. Each session will focus on a new behavior tool, but questions on any behavior concern are welcome. The content in this program is geared toward caregivers of children ages 18 months - 6 years (with or without developmental concerns). Each attendee will receive a free Behavior Toolkit. connectingforkids.org/ behavior-chat

Oberlin Business Partnership

The Oberlin Business Partnership and Positively Oberlin! will host its inspiring women series from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 18 at The Hotel at Oberlin Ballroom. Breakfast will be at 8:30 a.m. Speakers include Brittany Lovett, marketing and communications officer for the Community Foundation of Lorain County; Amy O’Dell, founder of Jacob’s Ladder; Tunde Oyeneyin, Peloton elite cycling instructor; and Judi Heller, author, speaker, and CEO of Haus of &. Individual tickets are $59, or a table of six is $300. Registration is available at www.oberlin.org.

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