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Brothers born to serve By Mark Griffin Press Contributing Writer news@presspublications.com
ODOT displays memorial
Transportation Manager Matt Harvey, of the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), stands before a safety memorial at the ODOT Northwood outpost, Lemoyne Road. The memorial is to raise awareness of work zone safety for drivers, specifically to represent the 28 people who were killed in Ohio work zone crashes in 2016. 27 of the 28 were motorists. "We want people to remember to slow down and pay attention when they are approaching work zones." said Harvey. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Gov. John Kasich says:
State should market Howard Marsh In a visit to Howard Marsh Metropark, Ohio Governor John Kasich said he believes the state can do more to help Toledo market its parks. He went a little further, calling the Toledo Area Metroparks system the best of its kind in Ohio. Governor John Kasich was among multiple state and local officials in attendance Wednesday for an advance look at the new Howard Marsh Metropark, still under development near the Lake Erie shore in Jerusalem Township. Visitor amenities of the 1,000 acre park will include 6.2 miles of hiking trails, including boardwalks, six miles of permanent, deep water channels for fishing and kayaking and canoeing, called “navigable blueway”, and 250 to 500 acres of “canoe-able” wetlands, depending on water levels and the time of year. It will also provide recreation land for birding, hiking, hunting and paddle sports. “The more I stand here and I think about Maumee Bay and I think about the Metroparks and this project, Toledo really needs to claim this in a big way,” Kasich said. “I think we really need to think about
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We need to do a better job of letting people know what is here because it is very exciting.
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By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
how Toledo and this whole area starts to market itself in a much more aggressive way as a place for people to hike and kayak and fish. “I know we know that, and we know what goes on here, but we need to tell the world about that and we’ll work with you through our operations in Columbus in terms of marketing the state. We need to do a better job of letting people know what is here because it is very exciting,” Kasich continued. Other speakers Wednesday included Metroparks Toledo Executive Director Dave Zenk, Metroparks Toledo Vice President of the Board of Park Commissioners Fritz Byers, Ducks Unlimited Chief Scientist
Dr. Tom Moorman, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Regional Coordinator Jennifer Day. Following their presentations, media and guests were taken on a nearly hour and a half tour of the 1,000 acre future Metropark. The project is the largest ever undertaken by Metroparks Toledo and the largest wetland restoration currently underway on the Great Lakes. To give an idea of how big Howard Marsh will be, Metroparks’ Natural Resources Supervisor Denis Franklin told The Press that the Metroparks’ Wildwood Preserve, even with its 12.1 miles of walking trails and 493 acres, would fit inside two of the four management units of the Howard Farms property — 235 acres on the west side of Howard Road to be developed later and an adjacent 452 acres being developed for hunting, fishing and boating. “Ultimately, this project is the single biggest project of its type currently under construction in the country,” Zenk said. “It is the single largest constructed or engineered wetland system in the entire Great Lakes region. Today is one of the last opportunities you will have to see this before we actually start flooding this site and let it work as we intended it to be.” Continued on page 2
Elizabeth Eggers remembers it like it was yesterday. Her two oldest boys, Brandon Gardull and his younger brother Tony, would dress themselves in kiddie Army gear, smear camouflage eye black on their cheeks and listen to their grandfather, Jack Gardull, tell them stories about his service during World War II. Grandpa Gardull would periodically bring the boys some momentos from his years in the military, so it really didn’t surprise anyone when both boys, who graduated from Clay High School, enlisted in the Army. Brandon, 32, graduated from Clay in 2004 and Tony, 30, graduated a year later. Brandon, who became a sergeant in the Army, served from 2005 through early 2015 and has been a patrolman with the Oregon Police Department for nearly four years. “Brandon joined first, and that really was no surprise,” Eggers said. “When I look back, I’m a little surprised at how the events played out. Brandon was a drummer in a rock band and he was also a skateboarder. All his life he was interested in the Army and he wasn’t that interested in athletics. Tony was very interested in athletics.” Brandon said he can’t recall the name of the garage band he and his buddies played with during high school. “It’s been a while,” he said. “We were just a group of friends messing around, a bunch of 16-year-olds having fun.” Brandon said the reality of becoming a rock star “doesn’t happen for most people,” so he was realistic about those odds back in high school. Besides, he was always keen on listening to grandpa Gardull’s war stories. “That was a big thing for me,” Brandon said. “It always intrigued me, just where he was and what he did. I wanted to do the same service as he did. I ended up signing up (with the Army) when I was 19 years old, and I wouldn’t be where I am now Continued on page 4
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...so if I can find things to do, I’m going to do them. Chance Milledge See page 9