Iva Walker

Okay, now I can actually get something done…or not. I had forgotten how enticing it can be to watch superior athletes do their thing. The summer Olympics were far away and this was a whole new venue, with challenges we don’t often see around here–this year being “the exception that...

The February 16, 2026 meeting of the James A. Garfield Historical Society opened with an invitation from the Portage County Historical Society to an Open House on March 7 at the society’s center in Ravenna; This invitation is being extended to all historical societies in the county to encourage...

The February 24, 2026 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary was the occasion of a most interesting and informative program presented by Olivia Pilon , Executive Director of the Portage County Land Bank. The purpose of the land bank is to facilitate the return of properties to productive use through...

The February 16, 2026 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary was focussed on the Storybook Trail, to become part of the Tom Collins Memorial Trail in the South Street (Bill Phelps) Park, in conjunction with the Garrettsville branch of the Portage County District Library. This involved rejoicing at the acceptance...

Worthies of the Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville came out as card sharks during the February 5, 2026 meeting held at the home of Nasreen Kitko. This took place after the roll call wherein members volunteered their favorite indoor games (Golf and mountain climbing not counting). Old standbys predominated–Yahtzee,...

Whoa !!! The Olympics certainly have some MAJOR MOMENTS ! Lindsey Vonn and her ill-fated return to the Women’s Downhill, for instance. What a thing ! She wipes out her knee, her Achilles tendon anyway; she vows to go back at it; and she does, then lucks into a fracture...

The location of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Centennial Celebration has been determined–actually, there will be two of them, one for the founding itself in 1926, and one in celebration of the group’s commitment to community service. One will be taking place with invited guests at Garrett’s Mill downtown and one...

Guest Groundhog Buckeye Chuck did not show up but the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary soldiered on, doing the following business: •   Review of the budget–specifics on income, spending, projects, with an eye to planning and the general outlook for community activities. • The Centennial Celebration–invitations to who and how many. The venue...

As I have mentioned before, somebody out there in ComputerLand.Internet thinks that my name is REALLY Ivan and, therefore, I must be interested in “guy things” and messages. This means that I get some pretty interesting messages in my SPAM pages (there are lots of them); some having to...

So I am putting together my piece on the meeting of the Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville, when all sorts of related topics and events just happened to come up. Karma, I guess. First was an article in The Week, a news magazine which I enjoy, partly because it has...

Something was cooking at the January 22, 2026 meeting of the Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville, held at the home of Mary Furillo, who had assistance from co-hostesses Jan Boehm and Carol Torda. Members responded to roll call with the name (s) of their favorite cookbook. The works presented...

Well, here we are again. We definitely DO NOT need Greenland. We’ve already got the weather and claiming anything else would be a pile of brown stuff–or white stuff, as the case may be. Anyone who’s not seeing climate change as a real thing, obviously does not have a real...

Seeking a venue for the group’s centennial celebration took up most of the discussion at the January 19, 2026 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary. Size of the guest list, level of formality and availability of parking were among the prime considerations for decisions, complicated by the date–Thursday,June 11, 2026–a...

Stepping off boldly into their one hundred and twenty-fifth year, the Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville met at the home of Iva Walker, assisted by Kathy Watson, on January 8, 2026 to launch their adventure with a program focussing on “how it used to be”. Leah Schultz presented the program...

The January 12, 2026 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary took place at the Garrettsville Family YMCA as the opening of this year’s “Lunch and Learn” series and hosted about 22 people. Ted Lysiak (moderator), Pat Singlyn, Michelle Herron, Dee Synnestvedt, Kim Curry and Sue Elam served as the panel...

Don’t try this at home. Are you seeing all of the latest hype about the “jello trick” ? It has replaced the “Pink salt trick” online and all over as the latest means of reducing one’s overabundance of avoirdupois (fat of one sort or another, in various locations) . If...

The January 5, 2026 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary was all about going forward, first covering current projects–lockboxes, dictionary distribution. RYLA(Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), gathering in June for which the local group will serve as contributing host, maintenance/ improvement of the Tom Collins Walking Trail, pix & illustrations pertaining...

The Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville held their annual Christmas party on December 11, 2025 at the estate of member Jane Hill as snow and cold swirled outside and warmth reigned within. Members answered the roll call with personal favorites about the holiday–old days and cold days. Reminiscences ruled....

What? You didn’t know that Nuuk is the principal settlement in Greenland,( a province of Denmark in the Western hemisphere)? Have you happened to notice how very much we seem to be resembling that particular location just lately? But then, of course, the prognosticators are teasing us with follow-up...

The Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary meeting on December 15, 2025 was looking forward to warmer times, specifically the upcoming celebration of one hundred years of Rotary in the community, on June 21, 2026. Final decision on details–location, etc.-- will be arriving in January, 2026. Other business included the following items: **Rescheduling of the...

The songs will rise on December 21 at three o’clock in the Garrettsville United Methodist Church, set on the air by the Chancel Choir, the three handbell ensembles and the interpretive narrators telling the story of “Glory to the Newborn King–Celebrating the Light of Christmas”. This outpouring of seasonal...

Countryside Veterinary Services keeping you in good health? Well, yes, but dogs and cats are getting even more premium care at the Garrettsville outpost since they have secured a full time veterinarian to offer complete ,non-surgical care at their facility. Dr. Lori Cavalcanti (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine)now joins Matilde, Ingrid,...

No. I am not communicating with owls, just miscellaneous rants for the season. I have been saving up a number of “pet peeves” to air out when everyone is in a better mood, comparatively speaking. Take a break from moaning and groaning about the prices and the crowds and...

Visited the Himalayas lately? Lost tons (!) of weight? Paid ANY attention to the latest in food(!) fads online? Got the recipe? A person can hardly open up any random commercial site without seeing somebody urging you to LOSE pounds and POUNDS and POUNDS of ugly, unwanted FAT. And how do you...

The November 17, 2025 meeting of the James A. Garfield Historical Society dealt mostly with program planning for the upcoming 2026 year. This included putting together a committee to discover and organize one major presentation per quarter, with a local focus and interest; volunteers are welcome. Delegates to the NEO...

The Daylight Savings Time switchover has not often been so noticeable …for me anyway. Probably because of the looooong autumn (bordering on summer, really), the early evenings have seemed quite abrupt. Mornings, of course, are lighter–I do not have to use my flashlights as much--though I still do–and I...

The November 17, 2025 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary covered a variety of topics. Among them were the following: *Planning for the lockbox project–money is in, *Venue for the upcoming Centennial Celebration party, *Centennial Celebration Project–what and where, finances, donation to the village? Maintenance, * Decorating the gazebo for Christmas,...

Edibles were what it was all about at the November 6 meeting of the Twentieth Century Club of Garrettsville. Linda Fitt was the hostess, assisted by Jane Hill. Members were asked to respond to roll call with their favorite edible flowers, then the evening’s speaker, Angie Smithberger of Always in...

Done with All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, done with Election Day, done with the Full Beaver Moon (Didn’t see them out celebrating), daylight has been saved once more…what else is on our plate for November? We already did “Clock hands spin, let’s sleep in! Snowfalls begin and frost...