amazing people

Delivered for a Purpose

Denice Hazlett — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:59:04 +0000

Photo of Debra DeHass Lehr by Denice Rovira HazlettThere are 5,700 certified nurse midwives in the United States. Stock analysts? Around 250,000. And it’s estimated there are fewer than 2,000 professional opera singers vying for just a handful of positions in America.

Debra DeHass Lehr has been all three.

Spend any time at all with Lehr, and you’ll notice three things-- her infectious laugh, her intense drive, and her passion for serving others. But what you might not realize is that it took three distinctly different careers and 20 years away from Holmes County for her to finally discover where she truly belongs.

Lehr started out in Millersburg, in a family serious about serving others. Her dad, Don DeHass, was a musician with a passion for keeping young kids off the streets. Her grandmother, Eileen Baker DeHass, had an oft-repeated motto: not for ourselves, but for others.

So it’s not surprising that Lehr has always felt compelled to a career of servanthood.

But, the trouble was, which to choose.

Because while many decide on one career path, following it throughout their lives, Lehr has lived three, each in the quest to fulfill a persistent longing.

As a child, Lehr was impressed by her grandmother’s example. Eileen Baker was the daughter of a farmer who chose to serve others through nursing. While working at Massillon State Hospital, she met and fell in love with maintenance man, Ted DeHass. The couple shared a vision to give care not only to the elderly in their community, but to those who suffered from psychiatric illnesses, many who had no place to go.

Along with Dr. Adam Earney, they developed Castle Nursing Home for the elderly and mentally ill. Because it was Eileen Dehass’ dream to provide not just a medical facility but a home for the residents, they often joined family vacations, zoo outings, boating trips, and even little Debra’s birthday parties.

“It was very much a home-like atmosphere,” Lehr remembers. “My grandmother adored them. They were her passion.”

But then there was her father. Don DeHass could play almost any instrument he got his hands on and inspired Lehr’s love of music. Legend has it that his band, The Clichés, recorded Hang On Sloopy two weeks before the McCoys, who shot the hit to number one in October 1965. DeHass even bought Millersburg’s old Russell Theater, creating a live music venue that provided some of Lehr’s fondest childhood memories, but also one of the saddest.

On August 1, 1977, a few days after his band Fern Gardner & The Country Class played the Football Hall of Fame parade, Don DeHass fell asleep at the Castle Theater and never awoke. He was 35 years young and had suffered a heart attack, leaving behind his wife, Tootzi, and three children, including a devastated Debra.

That’s when 15-year-old Lehr decided to get out of Holmes County. Her family had been so well-known that it often felt like living in a fishbowl. With her father gone, she left Millersburg behind to fully pursue music at Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy, consistently taking first chair and top honors with saxophone. At Interlochen, her sax teacher advised voice lessons to allow her instrument to sing, and after the first lesson, her instructor delivered a shocking directive.

She was never to pick up that sax again. She needed to sing.

So she studied opera under soprano Marguerite Piazza, graduated early, and headed to New York to learn from famous tenor John Alexander, her voice taking her from coast to coast, landing her in productions from D.C. to Alaska, London to Milan.

But, deep down, she knew that wasn’t her calling.

And since the arts didn’t always provide a steady income, Lehr took a temporary job at Solomon Brothers, a huge investment banking firm. She set singing aside as the company promoted her higher and higher until, eventually, she was a stock analyst for property/casualty insurance, studying finance and economics at New York University. She climbed her way to financial consultant, hustling around-the-clock to price Warren Buffet’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) for Berkshire Hathaway.

But finance didn’t feel like her calling, either.

Then, in 2002, a call from home changed everything.

Castle was in financial distress. They wanted Lehr, with her experience in finance and economics, to turn it around. On the long drive from New York City to Holmes County, she thought about her life. At 38, she’d been both a successful opera singer and a financial analyst. But still, she wondered, what if the sky were the limit? What would she do if she could do anything? What was her calling?

And that’s when she knew.

Once at Castle, it all came back to her--serving the patients, being a voice for those who didn’t have one, giving men, women and children the care they needed.

So, while working full time, Lehr enrolled in nursing school at the University of Akron. The calling she’d felt for so many years, starting with her grandmother’s residents, was finally realized.

When the family decided to sell Castle, it was painful for Lehr, but she knew a larger company could see her grandmother’s dream continue. It also freed her to fully pursue nursing, moving straight from graduation to Case Western Reserve University’s doctoral program with a dual major created just for her as certified nurse midwife and family nurse practitioner. With these two things, she could serve people at every stage and need of their lives.

Now Debra DeHass Lehr, MSN, CNM, FNP and soon to be DNP, spends part of her time with Pomerene Hospital’s midwifery service catching 120 babies per year with her midwifery partner, Mary Ann Durbin, CNM. She also serves one day a week overseeing Carroll County Department of Health’s prenatal and women’s clinic, takes occasional trips to Guatemala for medical missions with Refuge International, and is rounding the corner on her post-master’s certificate as a family nurse practitioner.

At 48, she has finally realized her calling.

“I have the best career in the world,” Lehr says, “but I realize I’m just the hands. I very much feel I’m a servant carrying out God’s work.”

Lehr still sings at St. Peter’s Catholic Church and she doesn’t watch the stock market at all anymore. While those were great careers, and she did them well, she knows now they were merely vehicles to deliver her to this life, back to Holmes County, to serving the community she loves.

And she can’t imagine being anything--or anywhere--else.

Power of the Pen: CCS Writes Again

Denice Hazlett — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:12:39 +0000

Photo by bizmac via Flickr.There are only 19 students in the entire seventh grade class at Kidron’s Central Christian School (CCS). On Saturday, March 17, five of those students, plus one eighth grader, proved their writing talents against 32 other schools at Clear Fork Middle School in Belleville, in this year’s Power of the Pen Regional tournaments.

CCS’s team of writers - eighth-grader Elise Murray, of Dalton, and seventh-graders, Hallie Bischoff, of Apple Creek, Elaina Lowe, of Orrville, Annalena Rottman, of Millersburg, Emmy Rupp, of Smithville and Libby Ryan, of Millersburg - wrote their way to second place in their region. What’s more, two of those writers, Rupp and Bischoff, placed individually against 83 other writers, earning them each a slot at State Finals at The College of Wooster May 24 and 25.

“We are so blessed with this,” said Allison Seymour, CCS’s seventh and eighth grade Language Arts teacher and POP coach. “We have some very talented writers at CCS. For such a small class to have done so well is significant.”

At each competition, writers are given a prompt and 40 minutes to create a captivating story from beginning to end. At Regionals, Emmy Rupp’s favorite consisted of a single word -”outnumbered.” Rupp composed a fictional piece based on her experience of waiting to find out whether she had placed at District competition. Her writing earned ninth place and an overall Superior rating. Rupp is thrilled with the outcome.

“It helps me to know that other people think my writing is good,” Rupp said.

Hallie Bischoff came in 18th, earning an overall Honorable rating. Bischoff’s favorite prompt, too, was “outnumbered,” inspiring her to write about a teacher whose best-laid plans are challenged by a classroom of stir-crazy students eager to get outside as spring break approaches. Eventually, Bischoff said, the teacher relents and her lesson plans go, literally, out the window.

How does Bischoff feel about securing a slot at State?

“I am so unbelievably excited,” she said. “I’m in shock, actually.”

The Power of the Pen was founded in 1986 when Lorraine B. Merrill, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Nordonia Junior High, returned to teaching after years of taking a hiatus to raise her own children.

“I was absolutely shocked by the changes since I’d been away,” Merrill said. “I saw for the first time that no one took seriously the level of intelligence and talent these students had. The schools were merely teaching parts of speech all over again. I knew students were capable of so much more.”

Merrill took the challenge and created Power of the Pen.

“The school allowed me the freedom to create my own program and fly with ideas that convinced me that every child who sits in a classroom has a story to tell. Once they find a voice, there’s no stopping them.”

After the first year, Merrill was awarded the Christa McAuliffe fellowship and a one-year sabbatical with a salary paid by the U.S. Department of Education to develop POP into a state program, and in one year, POP soared across the state of Ohio and remains the only program of its kind in the country.

Now, more than 7,500 students participate in each year’s competition. Each season, more than 25,000 pieces of student writing are produced that would not have otherwise existed.

Merrill said CCS should be very proud of their accomplishments.

“It is extremely significant for Central Christian’s students to have done as well as they did, given the total number of contestants. Emmy Rupp has a very excellent chance at State based on her quality points and Hallie Bischoff earned a good solid score, clearly second place against all of her classmates.”

Merrill was especially pleased that Seymour’s work helped earn the team their place.

“Allison Seymour has done a wonderful job,” Merrill said. “She’s on the Power of the Pen staff, comes to the state committee meetings, and handles the sales of T-shirts in the tent. That’s all indicative of someone who loves the program. I was very happy to see she did well at Regionals. Schools should be very proud of teachers who give up their Saturdays to participate in Power of the Pen.”

So what’s next for Central’s POP competitors? Preparing for State competition in May. Rupp is also writing a poem to submit, an option only available for writers who qualify for State.

“We’re going to be competing against some of the best of the best of the best,” Rupp said. “That makes me very nervous.”

“I’m definitely going to write double the prompts and get as much practice as I can,” Bischoff said. “And do a lot of reading, because reading goes hand-in-hand with writing; you can’t have one without the other.”

Power of the Pen tracks the achievements of students who do well at competition. They’ve found that their success now is indicative of their future writing success.

“Our identification of the best and brightest writers in the state of Ohio is really on the mark,” Merrill said, “because they go on to do extremely well in high school and college.”

As for Merrill, it’s possible that she gets her greatest sense of accomplishment not during the competition, but after, when all rounds are over.

“What’s really a hoot is when, at State, after the last round has ended, you see them sitting outside under the trees. And what are they doing? Still writing. It’s a lovely sight to see, when you find a writer. It’s a pure gem, as beautiful as can be.”

Ohio Company Creates a Fabulous Floor for the Final Four

Denice Hazlett — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 19:33:14 +0000

Mark Bolitho and the 2012 NCAA Final Four Floor. Photo by Arlen D. MillerIt’s not every day a floor gets its own documentary or goes traveling around the country on a week-long tour. But, then again, there aren’t many floors in the world that get the kind of exposure this one is about to receive. For the folks at the Ohio Floor Company in the little town of Holmesville, this project is a really big deal.

“It has been the most complicated floor we’ve ever worked on,” said Jason Irias of Fredericksburg, the job’s site supervisor, “but it’s been the most fun, too. All of the hype is pretty big. For us to be able to do this is quite an accomplishment.”

The hype is pretty big. After all, when this floor finishes its tour and is installed at its final destination later this month, it will be seen by millions of television viewers nationwide as it meets the feet of the four top-tier college teams in the country.

This is the NCAA Final Four floor.

Back when Ohio Floor Company’s roots were established in the 1960s as Bear Floor Sanding, the company mainly focused on two things: installing residential hardwood and gymnasium floors. When Steve Yoder bought the business in 1983, renaming it Mid-Ohio Hardwood Floors, he continued to grow and expand the gym floor tradition until, as the Ohio Floor Company (OFC), they began creating impressive permanent floor projects for Connor Sports Flooring, the leading manufacturer of maple hardwood courts and synthetic sports flooring in the United States.

After a few years, Connor approached OFC about portable floors, hardwood creations with elaborate logos that can be assembled and disassembled for sporting events in multi-use facilities and arenas across the country. Kevin Miller, OFC’s vice president, said they were a little nervous about the prospect. They weren’t sure they were ready to tackle such a daunting task.

“When Connor asked us to be a portable floor finisher, we thought it would be too much,” Miller said. “But through their persistence, we eventually decided to try a couple to get our feet wet.”

That first floor, destined for the Rushmore Civic Center in Rapid City, S.D., was shipped to OFC in crates as unfinished hardwood. The biggest challenge, Miller said, was piecing more than 200 4-by-8 foot sections together. But once they’d tackled the enormous wooden jigsaw puzzle, they found it was like any other finishing job, with the added convenience of being able to work in their own warehouse in Apple Creek.

That was six years ago. Now, the Ohio Floor Company is proud to be one of only three finishers creating beautiful sports floors in partnership with Connor. They’ve finished dozens of notable projects, from the NCAA play-in games in Dayton to the NCAA Women’s Final Four at the Alamodome in San-Antonio, Texas. In 2011, OFC was chosen to complete the Women’s NBA floor at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena.

Last March, when it came time to choose the finisher for the NCAA Final Four floor, with its multiple logos and challenging color detail, Connor Sports Flooring chose the Ohio Floor Company.

“I was excited about it,” Irias said, “The design was a little complicated, but the people on our team are good, so I knew we could pull it off.”

The floor is made from MFMA Northern Hardwood Maple to assure the very highest quality possible, and 255 panels were shipped from Connor’s plant in Amasa, Mich. to OFC’s Apple Creek warehouse where it was assembled and sanded in preparation for applying the NCAA’s graphics.

Much of the design required hand-painting, including the large center logo, three smaller ones, and a 60-foot border area with a gradient from lime green to black. That’s where artist Mark Bolitho, of Mark Signs, and Ken Posey, both of Wilmot, came in.

“We put a lot of thought and preparation into it, and more than 30 hours of hand-painting,” said Bolitho. “At one point, we were using about 20 different colors, 40 pans and 40 rollers, just for the border.”

After the lines and graphics were carefully painted and the finishing was complete, the floor was allowed to cure, then disassembled and stacked. When it leaves the warehouse, it will make the college rounds where an 8-by-8 foot replica featuring the center logo will be shown off. After that, the floor will be ready for its starring role on national television at the Superdome in New Orleans, including an hour-long CBS College Sports documentary specifically on the Final Four floor, from the felling of the trees to the moment the players run out on the court, shot largely on-site at the Ohio Floor company. The documentary will air during the Final Four games.

“All of the graphics turned out really well,” Irias said. “It looks great in person, so it should look excellent on TV.”

When the Big Dance comes to a close, the Final Four floor will be offered to the tournament champion, who might play on it on their home court or have it cut into pieces and sold as part of NCAA history. If they buy the floor as-is, it will once again be shipped to OFC for sanding and finishing, in accordance with NCAA rules, before installation in its new home.

While the Ohio Floor Company finishes eight to 10 portable floors per year, they still continue cleaning, refinishing, and installing flooring of all kinds, including tile, wood and synthetic flooring for both commercial and residential properties, just as they’ve done for the past 24 years.

Kevin Miller said, as one of Connor’s three floor finishers, they hope to become more involved in NCAA projects as they prepare to celebrate their 75th anniversary in 2013. Irias is hoping they’ll also have an opportunity to work on NBA floors.

“I think Connor knows we’re capable,” Irias said. “I believe they have a lot of trust in us. If the Cavaliers need a new floor next year, I would hope they’d offer the project to us, and I’m sure we’d take it.”

Miller said Connor’s relationship with the Ohio Floor Company has been a natural progression born out of dedication to doing top-quality work. They’re thrilled to have the opportunity to be trusted with such an honor.

“We’re humbled by it as well,” said Miller. “We believe a project like this is a reflection on the community we’re from and the work ethic emphasized here.”

For more information on the Ohio Floor Company, visit http://www.ohiofloor.com.

Resolute Writer: Paul Stutzman

Denice Hazlett — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:11:26 +0000

Photo by Denice Rovira HazlettPaul Stutzman had no idea what a big deal the BookExpo America (BEA) at the Javits Center in New York City really was. Had he known that the BEA is the largest annual book trade fair in the country, he never would have done what he did.

But if ignorance is bliss, Stutzman was euphoric. All he knew was he’d been on a journey and written about it with the hope that his experience would speak to others.

He was at the BEA that May of 2010 to sign and give away copies of his first book, Hiking Through, and, now, he was ready to find a major publisher.

At the convention, Stutzman strolled the aisles, pitching his story to major Christian publishing houses. He shared the story of his wife’s breast cancer and death, of leaving his career as a restaurant manager and hiking the Appalachian Trail in search of peace and healing. He’d released the book through a self-publishing company, selling several thousand copies within a few months. Most self-published authors are lucky to peddle 500, total.

But, publisher after publisher politely declined. First, publishing houses didn’t attend the BEA to buy books; they came to sell them, displaying forthcoming titles for the consideration of big name buyers. Secondly, they hadn’t heard of Stutzman, his book or its publisher. And, furthermore, most had a policy against accepting previously published works.

Stutzman was discouraged, but not dissuaded.

He found himself at the booth of Baker Publishing Group, one of the world’s largest publishers of Christian books, pitching his book to David Lewis, Baker’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. Like the others, Lewis politely declined. He explained that Baker doesn’t pick up books at the BEA and that, even if they did, they don’t accept previously published books.

“We always try to be polite,” Lewis says. “I’m willing to listen, because everyone has an interesting story. But we always tell people no. It’s policy. We just don’t pick up books at the BEA.”

Stutzman got the message, but felt compelled to connect with Lewis on a personal level.

“I thought, ‘Okay, you’re not going to take my book, but I’m still going to tell you my story,’ so I kept talking. I told him about the hike, the trail, the adventure. I told him how I’d lost my wife, quit my job, and found healing along the way.”

Stutzman remembers very clearly what happened next.

“Suddenly, as I was talking, I could see it in his eyes. Something just clicked.”

As Stutzman spoke, Lewis became more and more intrigued. This man from Ohio was charming, polite, and committed to his book.

“He was so winsome in his personality,” Lewis says, “and the story of him losing his wife and hiking the trail really piqued my interest.”

Lewis realized he needed to reconsider the company’s policy.

“Sometimes,” Lewis says, “you have to break the rules and make exceptions.”

Lewis told Stutzman, “I think we might want to make an exception with you.”

Stutzman walked back to his booth a few aisles away. He’d had 50 copies of Hiking Through to sign that day and had given away all but one. He plucked that last copy from the shelf and gave it to Lewis.

“I read it on the way home and just loved it,” Lewis says. “I went back to the company and told my editors that we needed to publish this book.”

During his Appalachian Trail hike, Stutzman had decided to bike across the United States from Washington State to Florida. While biking through Sikeston, Mo., he received an email outlining the book proposal and wanted to meet with someone before committing. He was given Vicki Crumpton’s number, the executive editor for Baker who would work with him on his book. His next stop, he told Crumpton, would be Paducah, KY. It just so happened that Crumpton lived, of all places, in Paducah. She and her husband biked to a cornfield about 20 miles outside of town to meet Stutzman, and, in a restaurant in Kentucky, agreed on the terms of Stutzman’s book contract with Revell, a division of Baker.

“I was on my bike in the middle of the country, in the middle of a cornfield,” Stutzman says, “but I was right where God wanted me to be.”

Now, Hiking Through has gone national, and David Lewis, the man who changed his mind, is optimistic about its success.

“Not only have national chains picked it up,” Lewis says, “but book clubs like Crossings and Doubleday have, too. Just because of that, tens of thousands of mailings will go out promoting Hiking Through.”

Stutzman’s second book, Biking Through, about his cross-country cycling trip, available now in hardback, will also be released through Revell in 2013.

In the meantime, Stutzman is still writing. His first novel, The Wanderers, will be finished by mid-March. Stutzman plans to self-publish this book, as he did the first two, to get it into readers’ hands as quickly as possible. Baker will publish the book when Stutzman’s ready to go that route.

Recently, Stutzman traveled to Grand Rapids to meet with Baker’s sales force. While there, he saw David Lewis for the first time since that day in New York. Stutzman shook Lewis’ hand, thanked him. But he just had to ask. Why did Lewis change his mind?

Lewis’ response? When he met Stutzman, he believed in him. But, on that flight back to Michigan from New York City, when he cracked open Stutzman’s book for the first time, he believed in his writing.

Stutzman’s advice to others who have a vision, a message, is to get out there and share it, whether it’s with the people in your own community or while wandering around the country’s biggest book expo in New York City.

“Even if you think you have no business being there, do it anyway,” Stutzman says. “That goes with everything in life. If what you’re doing is good, someone’s going to find it.”

Shreve's Spring Migration Sensation

Denice Hazlett — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 12:35:05 +0000

Kimberly Kaufman loves swamps. She loves squishing around in their muddy depths, sifting through their brackish water, and sharing with others, especially children, the magic of their rich ecosystems. And the Killbuck Marsh, the main focus of the Shreve Spring Migration Sensation, is one of Kaufman’s favorite swampy stomping grounds, with its 5,700 acres of fish, frogs and fowl, supported by what Kaufman calls some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet.

Kaufman is the executive director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Oak Harbor, featured in the Vomit Island episode of the Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs with Mike Roe. She made it a point to say she was a bird-lover long before she met husband, Kenn, well-known author of Kingbird Highway, The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand.

“He’s sort of a famous birder,” Kaufman laughed. “So we’ve been all over the country and remote parts of the world looking at and talking about birds.”

But for Kaufman, the Shreve Spring Migration Sensation stands out as one of her all-time favorite festivals, thanks to its family oriented atmosphere and the hard work of the event’s organizers.

The Kaufmans are just two of six scheduled speakers for this year’s Shreve Spring Migration Sensation, March 24, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Shreve Elementary School, and, as always, they’re glad to be a part of it.

For the past dozen years, Kimberly Kaufman has been involved in banding research with the Black Swamp Bird Observatory. She’ll share her findings at this year’s event, presenting what she has learned by having a bird in the hand, including some disturbing news about birding populations, what’s known and unknown in birding research, and why it’s important to continue banding research, in Killbuck Marsh and beyond.

Kaufman said that while any marsh is special, because of the location of Killbuck Marsh, its worth goes far beyond the ecological.

“You can’t overstate Killbuck Marsh’s value for its diversity of birds and all wildlife,” said Kaufman, “but being in the center of the state and within bicycling distance for the Amish community, it’s of special value to wildlife observers.”

Kaufman said the marsh also holds a special place in her heart as one of the first field trip destinations conducted by the Black Swamp Bird Observatory’s Ohio Young Birder’s Club in May 2006.

“We had close to 30 kids that day,” Kaufman remembered. “There had been some pretty intense rains, so roads were flooded. The van driver said there was no way through.”

Before Kaufman knew what was happening, the kids had taken off their shoes and socks and were wading into the marsh to explore. Soon after, the adults shed their footwear and joined in, too, discovering together the magic of the marsh.

“I’ll never forget it,” Kaufman said. “It demonstrated to me that anything’s possible when you put your mind to it.”

Kaufman said the Migration Sensation is perfectly suited for both expert and beginner birders, with activities, workshops and displays for all ages and skill levels.

“If you’ve never tried birding, that’s the place to go,” Kaufman said. “You can stand alongside someone in the field who has a nice pair of binoculars, and they’ll show you how to look through them. The event offers a wonderful glimpse into the birding community.”

Bill Fought, Migration Sensation publicist, said this year’s event, sponsored by the ODNR Division of Wildlife, Friends of the Killbuck Marsh, Inc., The Wilderness Center, Greater Mohican Audubon Society, Triway Local Schools, Shreve Library and Shreve Business & Community Association, will offer programs for kids that mom and dad will like, too. At the Birder’s Marketplace inside the school, for example, The Wilderness Center will give visitors a chance to cozy up to critters of the marsh--snakes, turtles, salamanders, and mammals.

“If a kid’s brave enough,” Fought said, “the snakes can crawl around on them. They don’t bite and aren’t poisonous, but they’re big! We’re not talking about little garter snakes.”

One popular event returning this year will be dip-netting for marsh creatures with Carrie Elvey of The Wilderness Center, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., beside Cemetery Road off SR 226. Elvey will gather participants to sift through the shallow water for tiny creatures to be viewed under a nearby microscope.

“If kids bring boots, they can wade out in the safe part of the marsh and catch things in the net,” Fought explained. “The naturalists will explain what they are, why they’re there, what they eat, and what they mean to the marsh.”

In addition to Kimberly and Kenn Kaufman, four other expert speakers will present workshops, including Cheryl Harner discussing butterfly migration, Mike Ervin talking about muskrat population, Bruce Glick sharing rare bird sightings, and Chuck Jakubchak, who will take a closer look at the birds that visit feeders month-by-month.

All activities are included in the cost, which is just $15 for an entire family, or $10 per person.

Kimberly Kaufman said even though Black Swamp Bird Observatory hosts its own huge spring festival each year, The Biggest Week in American Birding, May 4-13, she still maintains the Shreve Spring Migration Sensation is her favorite. And, she said, if expert birders, hands-on activities, live animals, fabulous people and informative workshops aren’t enough, there’s always the delicious on-site lunch, and, of course, the noodles.

“They serve some of the best noodles in the world,” Kaufman said. “What could be better than that?”

For more information on the Shreve Spring Migration Sensation, visit http://www.shrevemigration.orgor call 800-362-6474.

Freedom from Eating Disorders

Denice Hazlett — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:14:57 +0000

Photo by suizilla via Flickr. Looking back, Annie Blake’s parents can identify the first warning sign - the chocolate ice cream. Every night, from the time she was a toddler through her teen years, Annie would eat a bowl of her favorite dessert. When, at 16, Annie started refusing her nightly treat, her mother figured she’d grown out of it. Now, she realizes, it was one of the first signs that Annie was struggling with a deadly disorder, one that was determined to take her life.

Tiffany Ingersoll was in high school when she decided to eliminate junk food from her diet. Before long, she was skipping breakfast and lunch, refusing snacks, barely eating dinner, and exercising compulsively. Her hip bones and knees began to ache. She piled on layers of clothes to stay warm and wore ponytails to hide her ever-increasing hair loss. Tiffany’s body was devouring itself, but she didn’t know it until it was almost too late.

Annie and Tiffany are two of an estimated 11 million Americans, both men and women, who’ve suffered from eating disorders that include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating - patterns of obsessive behavior, emotions and attitudes surrounding weight and food issues used to compensate for overwhelming emotions. For both Annie and Tiffany, their eating disorders were triggered by unhealthy relationships and stressful life situations.

The statistics for anorexia alone are staggering, with a mortality rate 12 times higher than all other causes of death for girls ages 15-24.

And yet, due to social stigma, lack of understanding and inadequate health care coverage, only one in 10 suffering from eating disorders will receive treatment.

At the core of the disease lives a most insidious characteristic - denial. Tiffany believed she was making healthy choices, though she had escalated from eliminating junk food to skipping meals and forcing herself to vomit to counteract food intake. Annie was obsessing about food labels, often eating just one meal of fruit per day. Because she was a star swimmer, Annie’s parents thought she was just trying to be a better athlete.

Even after Tiffany’s teachers convinced her she had a problem, she couldn’t find adequate treatment. Because she wasn’t underweight, her doctor didn’t believe she had an eating disorder.

“Though I’d lost 40 pounds in two months,” Tiffany said, “my primary care doctor said I could still stand to lose weight.”

Another myth people believe is that skipping meals, bingeing or purging is acceptable if they only do it occasionally.

But the fact is, one purge can rupture the esophagus or stomach, causing internal bleeding and death. One skipped meal or excessive exercise session can cause electrolyte imbalance, triggering heart attack or stroke ending in death. It can all happen in one terrifying moment.

For Annie, that moment came just before Christmas. She hadn’t eaten for three days. Her brain was malnourished, causing the normally agreeable teen to fly into fits of rage.

“It was like being in a mine field,” her mother said. “Just one word could trigger an explosion.”

On the third day of her starving streak, Annie blacked out. Her electrolytes had dropped so low, she was nearing heart failure. She was admitted to the hospital, where an eating disorder specialist saved her life. After four days of hospitalization and around-the-clock surveillance, Annie was sent home to continue intensive therapy and counseling, seeing three different counselors before finally finding one who completely understood what Annie was going through.

That counselor was Tiffany Ingersoll.

During college, Ingersoll had reached a turning point. After passing out on campus, she’d felt God saying it was time to make a choice.

“I realized the eating disorder’s ultimate goal was my death,” said Ingersoll. “I decided to choose life, but I couldn’t do it alone.”

Ingersoll persisted in finding the treatment she needed to fully recover. Now, as a professional counselor at SpringHaven Counseling Center in Dundee, she has made it her mission to educate the public and provide counseling for others suffering from eating disorders.

With Ingersoll’s help, Annie is learning to value her body. Her family is using the Maudsley approach, an intensive outpatient treatment where parents play an active role in restoring a healthy weight and identity in their child. Annie has stopped watching television programs and reading magazines that encourage obsession with slenderness and focus on people’s outward appearances.

“I definitely see how much better I am,” Annie said. Now I can laugh and get through a meal, thanks to the skills I’ve learned through counseling.”

Ingersoll said parents should trust their instincts, avoid comments about weight, and get their child the help they need, even if they don’t understand the issue.

Annie’s advice to someone with an eating disorder is to push past the shame and guilt and ask for help.

“You’ll hit rock bottom. Seek help right now while the damage can still be reversed,” she said. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t choose this, and you cannot control it alone.”

Feb. 26 through March 3 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, Tiffany Ingersoll can be contacted at SpringHaven Counseling Center by calling 330-359-6100. For more information on eating disorders, call the National Eating Disorder Association help line at 800-931-2237 or visit http://www.NationalEatingDisorders.org.

Signs of possible eating disorders:

- Skipping meals.

- Marked weight loss or gain.

- Avoiding eating meals or snacks around others.

- Categorizing “good foods” and “bad foods.”

- Obsessive calculating of fat grams and calories.

- Intense preoccupation with body image and weight.

- Compulsive or excessive exercising.

- Self-induced vomiting.

- Periods of fasting.

- Laxative, diet pill or diuretic abuse.

- Feelings of isolation, depression, or irritability.

Heart Transplant Miracles Meet for Support

Denice Hazlett — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 04:52:19 +0000

When Mike and Kathy Wigal visited Miller Haus Bed and Breakfast last year, they fell in love with the place. They knew they had to come back, and when they did, they brought a very special group of people with them, a group of people with a new lease on life.

Wigal, from West Salem, and about a dozen others are part of the OSU Ross Support Group at Ohio State’s Ross Heart Hospital. These folks, mostly from the Columbus area, have helped each other through one of the biggest challenges a person could ever face. Most have not only lived through the overwhelming experience of heart failure, but the majority have been given a new lease on life through heart transplant.

Each Wednesday at 3 p.m., the group meets at the Columbus hospital to share their joys and concerns with each other through a common bond that celebrates life. Over the weekend of Feb. 17, members of the weekly support group met in Ohio’s Amish Country to further connect, take in the beauty of the area, and enjoy the hospitality of Lee Ann Miller and the staff at Miller Haus Bed and Breakfast near Walnut Creek.

“This weekend probably embodies what we hope our bed and breakfast is,” said Miller, “a place for people to experience relationships and the love of God, to help them feel they’ve been refreshed and restored, to make an eternal significance in someone’s life. These people have had death whisper in their ear, so they receive what we are giving them very differently.”

As they gathered for breakfast on Saturday morning, each person told their story of how they became part of the support group. Every story is so unique it deserves an entire book of its own.

Jim Hines, of Hilliard, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2008 and told there was nothing the doctors could do. At 68, he was too old for a heart transplant, and he needed to go home and prepare to die. His family had begun making funeral arrangements when his wife, Rita, ran into a nurse she knew at the grocery store while buying salt for the driveway. The nurse got them in touch with a cardiologist who put him on the heart transplant list, and on Good Friday, 2011, Hines was given a new heart.

David Stephenson, of Rockford, was planning to quit his job designing ambulances to work full-time with his wife, Charlene, at their new commercial hydroponic lettuce business when he woke with what he thought was the flu. Stephenson suffered a massive heart attack. Seventeen months later, he had a new heart, and the lettuce business is booming.

Stephanie Blackwell, of South Point, received a new heart in 2011. She said the group has helped her deal with the unique emotional turmoil that comes from knowing you’re alive because someone else is not. The support group, for her, is like a family.

Anthony Hines and his wife, Terry, were active people who loved traveling together until his heart problems slowed him down. When he found that he needed a new heart, his mother gave him a gold ceramic angel to keep in his room. Since his transplant, Anthony visits patients regularly and has given away more than 100 angels to those facing transplants or other heart issues.

Mark Hennessy, of Zanesville, had an ultrasound because of a bout with kidney stones when doctors discovered his lungs were filled with fluid. After a heart catheterization, they found five major blockages. Since receiving a new heart in 2008, he’s a source of hope for others through the support group and Men at Heart, a team who visits those dealing with the uncertainty of heart issues.

The Ross Support Group isn’t just for transplant patients. Paul Sparks, of Columbus, received a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) after battling what he thought was sinus drainage but turned out to be congestive heart failure. He said the LVAD has given him a new lease on life. He and his wife, Phyllis, who has become close with other heart patients’ spouses, are devoted to the weekly meetings. Zach Little, of Grove City, also has an LVAD, but his is a bridge to a heart transplant. He and the group are trusting that his new heart will arrive any day.

And then, there’s Melissa Justice, who, at 31, had classic heart failure symptoms, swelling feet, heaviness in her chest, but didn’t recognize them until she and her husband, Ray, were on a cruise to celebrate her job promotion and she could no longer walk a few steps without shortness of breath. But while Justice was on the operating table to receive her new heart, the surgeon discovered, before even making the first cut, that her heart had healed itself. The group calls Justice their miracle baby.

Jim Lunder, of Mentor-on-the-Lake, received his heart transplant at the Cleveland Clinic and met the Columbus group at the Miller Haus for the first time. Lunder, an ambassador for Lifebanc, a nonprofit organ and tissue recovery organization for Northeast Ohio, received the heart of a 21-year-old young man from Missouri. He became emotional telling of the moment he met the young man’s father, who pressed his head against Lunder’s chest and listened to his son’s beating heart.

Lunder said there are more than 110,000 men, women and children nationwide waiting for life-saving organ transplants. He said many people fear organ donorship because they don’t believe it works, but he insists he’s living proof. He urges people to become organ donors. Just one donor can save eight lives.

Each of these people believes God has given them a second chance at life, and they are living it to the fullest, volunteering, and paying forward the gifts they’ve been given.

Wigal, who received a new heart in 2009, said anyone needing support for heart issues is welcome to join the group.

“Whatever the group wants to talk about, whatever they need,” Wigal said, “we’re there for each other.”

For more information on donorship, contact LifeBanc at 888-558-LIFE or visit http://www.lifebanc.org. For more information on the OSU Ross Support Group or to talk to someone about the challenges of heart issues, contact Mike Wigal at 330-317-9648.

The second annual Frohliche Dorf show: Mission Impossible?

Denice Hazlett — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 16:43:42 +0000

Photo by Christina LoweOnce again, the live variety show, Frohliche Dorf, packed the Performing Arts Center of Central Christian School with hundreds of folks who were treated to a roundup of incredible talent and a healthy dose of laughter, with all proceeds from the evening going to the CCS music department.

The Feb. 11 sold-out performance began with the Dorf’s own Doofendorf Polka Band and their rendition of the Mission Impossible theme, as “secret agent” Gideon Dunster slunk across the stage, ultimately introducing the show with a sign, Frohliche Dorf II. The point? Last year’s show was such a success, it had audience members in stitches. Could a second attempt come close to the first?

The show, presented on-stage in an old-time radio format complete with a panel of voice actors, sound effects, four-part commercial jingles, and live musical guests, was hosted by Kidron’s Bruce Detweiler Breckbill. This year welcomed back popular guest Frying Pan Dan, played by Dan Hunsberger of Johnstown, Pa., as well as another episode of Clip and Clop, the Buggy Talk guys, who discussed--and solved--the problem of annoying engine emissions. New skits had actors portraying framed photos of former graduates, fictional historians humorously delving into the musical roots of the area, and a glimpse into the popular game show Chepardy.

This year’s special guests were Jon Detweiler, the Dalton man who, along with cousin Ben Swartz, canoed from the Sugar Creek near his home to the Gulf of Mexico, and Greg Miller, whose Big Year in birding made him the topic of a book by the same name and a feature length film released in 2011 with Jack Black portraying Miller’s character.

Men’s ensemble Sonnenberg Station delighted the crowd with a lively performance of Johnny Schmoker, a Pennsylvania-Dutch children’s folk song first published in 1863.

But quite possibly the most impressive moments of the evening were when vocal powerhouse Leslie Parker Barnes took the stage. Parker Barnes is the minister of praise and worship at Akron’s Arlington Church of God. She is also the founder and executive director of YEPAW, Youth Excellence Performing Arts Workshop, a group that, for two decades, has been encouraging youth to pursue lifestyles of excellence through the arts. Parker Barnes drew thunderous applause with her incredibly moving performance of Safety, accompanied by men’s ensemble Sonnenberg Station and a newly-assembled women’s chorus. Parker Barnes returned to perform Unity, and brought the evening to a close by joining the house band, Honeytown, on a grooving performance of Jesus on the Mainline.

The night wrapped up with an audience sing-along of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and the show’s theme song, The Happy Wanderer.

So, was the mission a success? Creator and co-writer Tim Shue, who worked with Brenda Troyer to create the evening’s script, seemed to think so. As audience members filed out to meet the special guests and enjoy refreshments in the gymnasium, Shue called out an encouraging promise: “See you next year!” And if this year’s show was any indication, next year’s event will be even bigger and better than ever.

For more information on Central Christian School or future performances, contact the school at 330-857-7311.

They've Got Moxie

Denice Hazlett — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:47:03 +0000

While Stefanie Kauffman recovered from a kidney transplant in November, she thought about the next chapter of her life. After her shocking diagnosis of kidney failure, she’d planned to close the doors of her Millersburg store, 55 West and Company, retreat to a quiet place in the country, and create the unique pieces that had drawn so many to her shop.

But the more she thought about it, the more Kauffman realized that plan wasn’t going to work.

Ruth Schlabach had been eyeing the former Killbuck Savings Bank (KSB) building in Berlin for more than a year. She was enjoying the success of her booming Berlin businesses, The Village Gift Barn and Country Gatherings. She and her husband, Steve, discussed an idea for the KSB building, but decided it just wasn’t time. When the option to buy came up again months later, Schlabach decided to go for it. She wasn’t sure how she would open a third store, but would take each day as it came. It would all work out.

Schlabach wanted to open a resale clothing boutique, sparked by a favorite shop she’d seen out-of-state. She’d call it Emma’s Attic, after her mother. Now she had the idea, the name, and the building. The one thing she didn’t have was time.

“I was really beginning to wonder what I’d gotten myself into,” Schlabach said.

Schlabach knew how she wanted the store to feel, so she stopped at 55 West during Kauffman’s liquidation to purchase display items and fixtures. That’s when she made the offhanded comment that started it all.

“You should come work for me,” Schlabach said.

Kauffman’s immediate reaction? She had no intention of returning to retail. She had her plan--quiet life in the country, painting and creating. Simple. Peaceful.

“I just wanted to hide and heal,” Kauffman said. “When you’re weak and not yourself, it can be very scary.”

Schlabach made her purchases, arranging for Kauffman to store them until her shop was ready for them.

Fall was approaching, Schlabach’s busiest time of the year. She decided she’d wait to focus on the new store until things slowed down for the winter. The best thing, she thought, was to take her time and do it right. But winter never slowed down.

In the meantime, Kauffman was fielding suggestions for what to do post-surgery. People asked if she’d open a new shop. A few folks suggested driving a school bus. Her mom mentioned Ruth Schlabach and the Village Gift Barn.

“Even at almost 40, I didn’t want to listen to my mother,” Kauffman laughed.

And then, Kauffman came to a realization.

“I was doing home dialysis,” Kauffman said, “and I was living this hermit life that I’d envisioned for myself, but it wasn’t making me happy.

“I realized that I’m a people person. I would go crazy without that interaction,” Kauffman said. “These weren’t just customers. They were people I cared about, and they cared about me.”

When Schlabach took Kauffman’s call, she thought Kauffman was reminding her to pick up her things.

“She said she didn’t care about that,” Schlabach said. “She wanted to talk about the offer I’d made. She was serious.”

So they met, realized how well they clicked, and Kauffman pitched the idea of a unique retail clothing boutique as opposed to a consignment shop. They made plans to talk further after Kauffman’s surgery.

“I was overwhelmed by how kind Steve and Ruth were,” Kauffman said, “The whole transplant didn’t phase them. Anyone who can be that understanding, I was excited to work with them.”

Kauffman’s surgery went amazingly well. Her doctors called her “The Transplant Champion.” Within three days, she was threatening to sprint down the hospital halls. During her recovery, her thoughts continually turned to how excited she was about the new venture with Schlabach.

“I envisioned the feel of the shop, and how we could incorporate the things I like to do into this new boutique,” Kauffman said. “I found myself getting lost in the idea of it.”

After three weeks, Kauffman called Schlabach. She was ready to commit. Schlabach was thrilled.

“I needed more people in my life who could take charge,” Schlabach said. “I’m so happy to have someone who knows the business end of running a shop. I can feel free to walk away and let her run things, but still offer her our total support.”

And with that, Schlabach set aside Emma’s Attic for a future project, and a brand new spunky and sassy retail clothing boutique was born--Moxie, set to open the weekend of March 24.

Kauffman said the name sums up what they want to give to women who visit.

“I love ‘Moxie.’ It describes those times when you feel great about what you’re wearing, you feel confident, and you can take on the day. I want women to get that, to feel better about who they are.”

Kauffman said there will definitely be a bit of 55’s flavor thrown in among the wide variety of upscale clothing.

“We still want to have one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces and a small selection of local artists,” Kauffman said. As for the clothing, there will be something for every style preference.

“Village Gift Barn has a lot of unique items right now, with fun cuts and colors and a vintage feel,” Kauffman said. “We’re going to continue with that look, but we’ll mix it up with some clean-line and contemporary clothing, too.”

And while Kauffman’s excited about the new shop, she’s even more excited about the people.

“What really gets me excited about life is meeting all of these unique individuals,” Kauffman said. “You have people from all over the world who come to this area--someone from Pakistan one day, someone from Germany, and then, someone from Benton.”

“I have a strong connection to this community,” Kauffman said. “When my nephrologist asked me what I planned to do after the transplant, I said “live happily ever after, of course.”

For Kauffman, this new project is a great start, and the timing was just perfect.

“When your heart is in it,” Kauffman said, “it all falls into place.”

The Frohliche Dorf Show Returns to Wayne County!

Denice Hazlett — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:48:20 +0000

Photo by Denice Rovira HazlettCentral Christian School in Kidron will welcome the second annual Frohliche Dorf, the hilarious live variety show, to its Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m.

Frohliche Dorf, or “happy village” in German, was written and produced by Central Christian’s choir director, Tim Shue, in the style of an old-time radio program similar to Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. It features advertising jingles, a panel of actors performing skits and sound effects, local authors and personalities, and special musical performances, a total cast of about 50 emceed by Bruce Detweiler Breckbill, vice president of direct sales for Lehman’s. Shue said it’s a light-hearted show that pokes fun at life in and around Amish Country.

“It’s a slice of self-mockery and a good laugh at who we are in this community,” said Shue. “It’s about celebrating our own unique quirkiness.”

Shue said the 2011 show was a tremendous hit, and, just like last year, he predicts it will pack the PAC.

“It turned out to be a lot funnier than we anticipated,” Shue said. “I guess people needed a good reason to laugh.”

This year’s audience can expect more of the same hilarity during the two-hour show, plus a few new treats, including the return of Clip and Clop, the Buggy Talk Guys, who, this year, will be endeavoring to diagnose the cause of their buggies’ engine exhaust issues.

Frying Pan Dan, played by Dan Hunsberger of Johnstown, Pa., will also make an encore appearance on Frohliche’s daytime talk show spoof, The Few, sharing the multitude of recipes that can be created using a can of cream of mushroom soup.

And what would a variety show be without a high-stakes quiz show? That’s where Cheperdy comes in, with contestants choosing from categories like food groups and family names, capping out at a whopping $500.

“It’s corny as all get-out,” said Shue. “We’re also doing a skit to celebrate our 50 year anniversary, where graduates from different years will talk to different classes, holding a frame in front of their face, representing their high school graduation photo.”

To add musical variety to that skit, the eclectic four-piece group Honeytown will perform songs harkening back to each era, including a bit of Bieber Fever for the 2010 grads.

Other music includes the specially-assembled Doofendorf Polka Band, plus the black gospel powerhouse Leslie Parker Barnes of Akron, soloing for both Sonnenberg Station men’s ensemble and an area women’s choir assembled by Tim Shue.

Special speaking guest will be Sugar2Salt’s Jon Detweiler, the young man who embarked on a three-month canoe adventure from the Sugar Creek near his Dalton home to the Gulf of Mexico. Also featured will be area birder Greg Miller, whose fowl adventures were chronicled in the book The Big Year by Mark Obmascik and portrayed by comic actor Jack Black in the Hollywood feature film.

Ticket sales for this year’s Frohliche Dorf will again fund CCS’s choir festival trips and help eliminate debt on the school’s music wing. Last year’s show brought in about $6,000.

Tickets are on sale now and selling fast. They can be purchased for $15 per ticket by calling Central Christian School at 330-857-7311.