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Roughrider Seniors prepare for graduation set for Sunday at 2pm

2013-05-22T11:35:52-04:00

Roughrider Seniors prepare for graduation set for Sunday at 2pm

2013-05-22T11:35:52-04:00

Roughrider Seniors prepare for graduation set for Sunday at 2pm

2013-05-22T11:34:11-04:00

Riders Enjoy Fun In The Sun

2013-05-22T09:49:08-04:00

ST. MARYS — Students at the Intermediate School enjoyed a field day Tuesday by playing dodgeball in the gym, enjoying popsicles and water on the playground, as well as hula hoops, water balloons and multiple blow-up slides and obstacle courses.

With the last day of school approaching and summer around the corner, the students were full of energy and appreciated the day of fun with their friends.

Kennedi Burd, who was hula hooping with her friend and fellow fifth-grader, Shia Salisbury, said her favorite part of field day is the obstacle course.

“You have to run through things that stand up and then you have to jump over them,” she said.

Shia said her favorite part was yet to come — the water balloon toss.

“We’ve done it for the past three years so I know how it goes,” she said.

Nathaniel Hernandez, also a fifth-grader, said the water balloon toss is his favorite, too.

“I like to get wet, because sometimes in the summer I go to swim meets,” he said.

“I would have to say this one,” Alayna Thornsberry said when her group was done with the water balloons, “because you get wet.”

Jayde Snook said her favorite is the giant tiger slide.

“I like wild animals, so it’s been my thing,” she said. “I’ve been learning about them a lot.”

Leah Walter, a fourth-grader, said she liked the blow-ups and the break station.

“You get popsicles and water,” she said.

“(I like) the obstacle course,” Mizuki Yamane said, noting that it is also challenging. “This is my first field day.”

Austin Hertenstein said the water balloon toss is probably his favorite part of field day.

“Whenever the water balloon pops, you get wet,” he said.

Ali Burd, a fourth-grader, also said she loved the water balloons, and the saber-tooth tiger slide.

“My favorite part of field day is the water balloon toss and dodgeball,” Noah Storer said.

Kiley Tenant said she liked the obstacle course, which is called “Adrenaline Rush.”

Savanna Cox, a fifth-grader, said the slides are her favorite part of field day, and classmate Emily Stapleton said she liked the water balloon toss.

“I like the obstacle course and the water balloon toss,” Kalie Gayer said.

Cheyenne Martin agreed.

The activities were manned by volunteer parents. Julie Speckman and Kara Birt, the parent volunteers officiating the dodgeball games, said the kids love field day every year.

“It gives the kids an opportunity to have fun when they’ve worked so hard all year,” Birt said.

Athletes Prep For Competition

2013-05-21T13:25:04-04:00

ST. MARYS — The Auglaize County Special Olympics track and field had its first practice since the District competition at the Memorial High School track Monday evening.

There were athletes ranging in age from 8 to in their 60s, practicing everything from softball to track to wheelchair races. They were preparing for their next big competition, State, which will take place from June 28 through June 30 at Ohio State University’s campus in Columbus.

“All 88 counties in Ohio will be competing against each other,” said Rhonda Runnion, volunteer softball coach. “We’re very fortunate that in Auglaize County we have a very large and very well-organized Special Olympics. A lot of counties have almost lost theirs altogether. We have a lot of generous people in this county and they donate; we’re purely through donations. That’s how we’re funded.”

Runnion and her husband, Dana, have been helping with the Auglaize County Special Olympics since their son was 8; he is now in his late 20s.

“We usually take around 60-some athletes to state,” she said.”

There will be 51 Special Olympians participating in the State competition this year, in bowling, bocce, and track and field.

All teams are coached by volunteers who willingly give their time to creating an extracurricular activity for those who would not otherwise have one.

“We’re doing it mostly for the athletes — to build their self esteem,” Dana Runnion said. “They don’t fit in in the typical situations; athletic events and such. With all the extra activities that high schools do, you know, these kids aren’t included in that. I mean (the schools) do a great job teaching them, but as far as any outside things, we pretty much have to do that all ourselves.”

Participation is high every year, he said, and the athletes seem to love the activities.

Caroline Klopfenstein will be competing in the javelin throw. She has been participating in the Special Olympics for a long time, she said.

“I like it,” Klopfenstein said. “I like to walk to lose some weight. We’re going to Columbus to state. I can’t wait to walk around the track and throw the javelin.”

Kenton Stamm was practicing for his event, softball. He will also be competing in bowling.

“I did it last year, too,” he said. “I like doing Special Olympics. I like doing softball and walking around the track.”

Dana Runnion said it’s all about getting the athletes together.

“We’re trying to get the kids out and active,” Dana Runnion said. “And they’re with their peers.”

He said this upcoming state competition is one of the best things about the Special Olympics, for the coaches and for the participants.

“Going to state is a phenomenal thing,” he said. “To see athletes from all over the state and 88 counties, to participate in these events.”

He also stressed that the main goal in organizing these activities is to get the kids (and adults) out and active and having fun with their peers.

“I think it’s extremely important,” Rhonda Runnion said. “Just the awareness of how valuable special people are in our community; how they can all contribute, and how they’re able to do things just like typical people, you know, to their best ability. And we have all levels of abilities here. From wheelchair racing to ones who are able to run almost like (anyone else). It’s a very good event.”

Pedestrian Struck, Killed

2013-05-20T10:16:35-04:00

ST. MARYS — A Cridersville man was struck and killed by a vehicle along U.S. 33 early Sunday morning.

According to a crash report from the Wapakoneta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, at approximately 1:33 a.m. Sunday, Joshua J. Wingate, 32, of Cridersville, was walking or standing in the right lane of westbound traffic along U.S. 33, near mile post 7, just west of Townline-Kossuth Road, when he was struck by a westbound 2009 Ford Flex driven Rebecca Macwhinney, 34, of St. Marys.

Trooper Brian Mull told The Evening Leader Macwhinney told troopers she never saw Wingate. He also noted two other vehicles nearly hit Wingate before the crash. Mull said Wingate was pronounced dead at the scene by a representative from the Auglaize County Coroner’s Office.

In addition to troopers, the St. Marys Police Department, St. Marys Fire Department and Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene. No citations will be issued and the crash remains under investigation.

Anglers Catch Record-Haul

2013-05-20T13:04:39-04:00

ST. MARYS — The third annual “Get the Carp Outta Here” Carp Derby was once again successful in its goal of removing as many of the bottom feeders as possible.

Two years ago, there were 8,142 pounds of carp caught by participants over the two-day event. Last year, the number was 12,831 pounds, and this year, participants caught 15,541 pounds.

Grand Lake St. Marys has been shown to have an imbalance in the number of carp that can be found in the lake compared to the number of other species of fish. Carp also add to the unwanted phosphorus in the lake. The fish feed off the sediment at the bottom of the lake, and when they die, their bodies leave behind more of the chemical than was present before.

The Lake Improvement Association and the Auglaize and Mercer Counties Convention and Visitors Bureau created the carp derby to help decrease the number of carp in the lake.

“It’s a neat community event — it’s been fun,” said Dan Manning, owner of the Outdoorsmen.

“People come from all over. I know there was somebody here from Tennessee yesterday. I know there’s a group of people from around our state that (does) this. They’ll travel from lake to lake to do this kind of thing.”

Manning and his wife, Brenda, were one of the many sponsors in the tournament.

Participants had from 4 p.m. Friday until noon Sunday to catch as many carp as possible and present the fish to the volunteers working the various weigh-in stations scattered across the lake, from St. Marys to Celina.

Greg Schumm, with the Lake Restoration Commission, was one of the volunteers helping count participants’ carp as they were tossed into round, orange barrels Sunday.

“I’ve helped with this for two years, and it’s enjoyable,” he said, noting that the biggest plus is that it brings people in numbers to the lake.

One group of anglers made the drive from Dayton to participate in the derby. Danielle Holley and friend Daniel Campbell caught 32 fish over the weekend.

“This was our first time,” Holley said. “(We) just thought it would be something fun, something different. Right now (the carp) are spawning and they’re all right by the banks so I think the only way to catch them is with a bow.”

Manning noted carp are fun fish to try to catch.

“They’re powerful, so when you hook one, it’s a blast, but the majority of the population fishes for other types of species,” he said.

“There’s no natural selection of harvest for them ... so we’re trying to create it with this event. Creating an event like this to weed them out helps. This may be a small attempt to help, but it’s at least creating an event and it’s getting people into the sport.”

Fishing for carp is growing as a sport nationwide, he said, and may have stemmed from this derby.

Awards were given out in two different categories: the highest number of carp caught and the heaviest-weighing carp.

For anyone still wishing to be a part of the carp-catching, there have been 25 carp marked with orange tags. Each one is represented by a sponsor and the individuals who catch them will be awarded $100 each.

One of these tagged carp was caught during the derby, but the rest are still fair game until July 4.

Roughrider Swims His Way To Success

2013-05-18T10:14:36-04:00

ST. MARYS — Matt Hollman’s senior year at Memorial High School has been all about swimming. The 19-year-old participates in many activities for the Roughriders, including varsity football, student council and FCA, but swimming is where he shines the brightest.

Hollman, whose brothers are both swimmers, too, started swimming at the age of 3.

He said he started minis at the St. Marys Seahawks when he was 3.

“We all do the summer swim,” he said.

It wasn’t until he started swimming at the local YMCA that he became a serious and competitive swimmer. The sport is about exercise and socialization for Hollman.

“It keeps me in shape. And the meets are all around the area, so I meet a lot of people.”

Hollman swims competitively both at the YMCA and for Memorial High School, where he has done very well. He went to the national competition twice with his team at the Y, and was on the relay team for the Roughriders that recently competed at the state competition in Canton.

“We did right around our best time,” he said of the state competition. “I think we got 22nd or 21st…Just making it to state was awesome.”

A relay race in swimming, he said, is when the first person on the team starts by doing either a 50 or a 100, either two or four lengths of the pool. As soon as that swimmer touches the wall on his last length, the next team member starts, and so on, until all team members have completed their laps.

Relays are not Hollman’s only forte. He also broke the school record in the breaststroke with a time of 1:03:56.

“My sophomore year I was close (to breaking it) the whole year,” he said, “And then…another kid on the team was swimming it at the same time and right before I broke it, he broke it better. And he beat me. So it changed right before I got it. So the next year when I got it, it was like, finally.”

Though Hollman enjoys swimming and spending time with his friends on the team, the time commitment of being in such a competitive and demanding sport has been difficult, he said.

“A lot of the meets are over weekends, so it takes a lot of time,” he said. “All the practices and going out for meets and stuff.”

He plans to attend ONU in the fall, and is still debating whether to join the swim team there. Regardless, he plans to keep swimming - even if it’s just him.

Hollman is excited to start life on his own and do his own thing. He plans to study mechanical engineering.

“I did (mechanical) engineering because I like fixing problems, really,” he said. “I was hoping to co-op while I was there. While you’re in college, you go work for a company. It’s like interning but you’ll get paid. So you get to go learn about what you’re going to do. And a lot of times…you have a good chance of getting a job there.”

National Nursing Home Week Spotlights Programs

2013-05-18T08:14:04-04:00

ST. MARYS — In the last few years, baby boomers have started retiring, said Golden Living Valley representative Russ Duvall, meaning that in next 5-10 years nursing homes will see more numbers of retirees needing full-time care.

During National Nursing Home Week, which wrapped up Friday, local nursing homes aimed to show the best of what they offer residents as well as getting the community involved in the day-to-day lives of residents.

Marge Luedeke, who works for St. Marys Living Center, said the residents had celebrated all week with activities including having the St. Marys High School Brass ensemble performed, residents planted a tree in honor of maintenance man who had passed, as well as hosting events themed around the 1950s and flowers.

Golden Living Valley celebrated by inviting celebrity bingo caller Miss Ohio to come and visit with residents, as well as having cookouts, staff dress up days and a balloon launch.

Duvall said the programs highlight how the nursing home industry has changed over the last few years.

“Nursing homes aren’t what they used to be,” said Duvall. “There’s a lot more activities, more respite and rehab...Rather than set meal times we have windows. Residents choose when they’re able to rise and go to bed, so if they want to watch the late, late news, they can do that. It’s a less institutional feel. It’s a lot more homey for the residents.”

Often, he said, talking about a nursing home can seem very taboo for family members, but the problem that creates is that then, when something happen to change the situation, like a caregiver needs break, or family can’t provide care needs anymore, or an injury in the winter the situation is made more stressful because the topic is introduced for the first time.

“From a conversation standpoint, sometimes easier to have the conversation earlier...It takes the taboo out of it.”

He said a person may not have bad associations or may want to go to a home they remember visiting a relative in, because the relative was happy.

“The more you talk the less stressful it is,” he said.

Luedeke said that the public can support nursing homes by visiting and volunteering their talents.

“Volunteering is a huge thing. Come in to read to a resident, share your talent.

Play a harmonica, sing one song, arrange flowers. It’s vast, it’s endless,” she said. “It’s so wide open what you could do. It’s just important to have the human touch.”

She said nursing home residents have had interesting lives to share as well.

“When I interview them, I ask about the top 5 things they have ever done in their life,” she said. “There’s everything...painters, readers, some enjoy getting out of building seeing sights they haven’t seen.”

Artists Collages Local Landscapes

2013-05-17T18:11:29-04:00

ST. MARY — Jane Dippold sees this part of Ohio as beautiful country, and tonight, when her art exhibition opens at Arts Center in St. Marys, she will invite others to see the familiar countryside through her eyes.

Roughly two years ago Dippold started capturing specific places in Auglaize and Mercer counties and collaging them.

“I’m not interested in creating imagined places. I want to represent a particular place,” she said.

Dippold had done some collaging before she started the landscapes.

“I was thinking of how pretty the landscape would look in collage, with all the textures. There’s grass, the barn, the way sky sometimes looks like torn paper, you know,” she said.

Dippold is a professional illustrator and artist with children’s books, greeting cards, and a host of other credits to her name; she lived in Cincinnati and returned to the area after having children.

She likes to drive around the area taking pictures to capture specific places in a specific moment or season or light.

“The landscape around here is just beautiful, well, except in dead of winter. Maybe someday I will think ‘oh I want to do an Italian landscape’ but not now. There’s variety when the seasons change.” she said.

Dippold studied Graphic Design at Miami University, and in her career as a freelance artist she said she’s always looking for a new direction, to try something different.

The nature of freelance work is that the workload fluctuates, so over the last few years, she said she has created the collage paintings in her downtime.

What’s nice, she said, is that she’s worked as commission illustrator so long, it’s been fun to explore the part of creating art that is about what inspires her personally.

“With commissions, you’re asked to solve a problem,” she said. “Actually illustrating is a little more pressure because (the customers) have to like it. At end of a project or assignment, they have to like it. I don’t create a painting and wonder if someone’s going to like it. I create what I want, and if they all stay at my house, I’m still happy with that.”

Not worrying about a customer isn’t the usual way Dippold approaches her business however.

“I think a lot of people think of art as a hobby, but I approach it as a job. Every day I work at it. I work every day marketing, trying to find new clients, thinking about what will I be doing next year,” she said.

Many people think of arts careers as something to do part of the time, encouraging students to work a “regular” job because of the perception there aren’t jobs in the arts, but Dippold said that’s not what is true for her.

“My experience is, if you want to go into arts and treat as job, inevitably you will get better at it. But if you go in as a hobby, it will stay on the back burner. You need to commit yourself as a person, completely, like anything,” she said.

One of the big challenges with the internet, she said, is there’s a wealth of art a click away for anyone. She has her own website JaneDippold.com, in fact, and said there’s a lot of competition thanks to the internet.

“But good art still stands out. With technology, you just have to maybe, from here on out, not shy away from that. That’s not to say someone who paints in oils and paints pretty flowers can’t still be successful. Just like the people who make wood furniture the old way. But you have to say ‘this is what I’m going to do,’” she said.