Iva Walker

Well, I seem to have hit my quota again this year.  A little shy, perhaps, but got the basics done.  I am speaking, of course, of fair attendance.  I really like going to fairs.  It’s the food, mostly.  Nothing like hot grease wafting through the air to set the...

The August 31, 2015 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club heard from a rock-star of the world of extreme rowers, Katie Spotz, who in a marathon 70-day adventure rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, from Africa to South America—alone!  There were 30 ft. waves, there were freighters, there were scary...

Ever since  that piece about plastic surgery and the aestheticians who keep having the gall to send me email about how they can get me a “Facelift Miracle”(as if I needed such a thing), I’ve been noticing a number of items in the news about occasions where the focus...

At one time, there were, give or take, six—yes, six—cats in this house.  That was, so to speak, the high water mark, but the tide seems to have receded rather precipitously lately. See, I started out, innocently enough, with just one, chosen from a litter just out of town advertised...

Recovering after their bang-up steak fry on August 3, the members of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary club got down to business on August 10.  To wit : • The August 17 meeting will feature Cheryl Warren, District Governor, with a board meeting at 11:00 • The incoming exchange student will arrive on...

Park Cemetery?  Most popular place in Garrettsville!  People are just dying to get in. Old/bad joke, but a fine place for a tour of local history led by Kit Younker Semplak on Monday, July 20 for the education and enlightenment of a goodly crowd of interested listeners and history buffs. ...

The Garrettsville-Hiram Rotarians discovered that they had a “Rivergod” in their midst, as member Mike Keas gave an outline of his varied and interesting career(s) at the July 13, 2015 meeting. A Jack-of-all-trades and , clearly, master of quite a lot ,he traced his progress through meatcutting, the rafting business,...

The final June meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club was a busy one. It saw the installation of the new 2015-2016 club president, Thomas Collins (Installing officer, Jim Irwin, Tom’s family in attendance),  and other club officers : Amy Crawford—treasurer, Mike Keas—sergeant–at-arms, Delores McCumbers—immediate past president (Secretary Ted Lysiak  will...

Time marches on and so does the Rotary Club of Garrettsville-Hiram.  The meeting on June 22, 2015—first full day of SUMMER—featured reports from two young ladies who had participated in Rotary youth programs. Megan Ryser was the local recipient of the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, which  took her to Baldwin-Wallace...

If John Lennon hadn’t written it, Roger Monroe would have had to.  Maybe with a Pochedly on vocals or bass.  Who better to whip up a little ditty about the most quintessential of spring/summer fruit?  The fact that the song was written about a Salvation Army orphanage near Liverpool...

The June 8, 2015 meeting of the Rotary Club of Garrettsville-Hiram, at Cal’s II in Sky Plaza, Garrettsville featured a program presented by departing exchange student, Lenart Zsadany, better known as “Zad”.  He spoke of  some of the highlights of his stay in the U.S. with the Collins, Schwan...

Garrettsville - Congrats to Garfield’s two state champs Edie Svonavec and Lauren Jones in this year’s track and field competition down in Columbus.

I knew that I misplaced something. The Associated Press recently reported that nine—count ‘em, NINE—brains had been found alongside a railroad track near Gouverneur, northern New York state.  Authorities said not to worry. Well, I won’t but it seems like there might be someone out there who is not ABLE...

Tell you what….  Let’s have everyone who says, “Why don’t they…(whatever it is about the rebuilding needed on Garrettsville’s Main St.) or “They need to…(suggestions for operations to be carried out to restore Main St.) or “They ought to…(directions on how to accomplish the rebuilding of half of Garrettsville’s...

Business as usual at the June 1, 2015 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club. The group decided to continue holding their annual Reverse Raffle/Steak Fry Fundraiser at SugarBush Golf Club; this year’s date will be the first Thursday in November, 11/5/15.  Mark your calendars now for a great  pre-holiday-madness good...

The James A. Garfield Historical Society met May 18, 2015 at the Mott Building on Main St. in downtown Garrettsville. It was a mathematical meeting, celebrated with pie.

There’s tribute and then there’s…TRIBUTE. Here’s one where some young ladies—not to mention their enthusiastic coach and supporters—played a sport that they love and made a commitment to U.S. Marines and Army vets coming home from service having suffered the loss of limbs and playing softball, inspiring fans with their...

Here’s one for the Village Piece Makers, you know, the dedicated quilt-makers who every two years come up with a lovely handmade spread to be raffled off at the Christmas Walk. I don’t know how they come up with the patterns—maybe they make them up themselves—but recently the AB-J ran a cartoon (It’s a regular series called Non Sequitur, usually pretty apt for what they put out there) that might get a rise from out local needlewomen, even Ellie Foster Monroe who does “Quilts for Causes”, contributing to efforts that she supports.

Remember, next Tuesday, May 5, is an Election Day. There is only one countywide issue, a renewal of a Children’s Services levy, but Crestwood, Aurora and Mogadore all have school issues to vote on, and Brimfield, Hiram, Ravenna, Streetsboro and Windham have local issues on the ballot.

It was “business as usual” for the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club on April  13 as the group caught up on community activities and projects under way. These included mention of the semi-annual Trash Pick-up on St. Rte 82 between Garrettsville and Hiram villages.  What a surprise, right?  InterAct Club members from...

The James A. Garfield Alumni association will be marking its 10th anniversary this fall while recognizing “old timers” of the classes of ‘2005, ‘95, ’85, ’75, ’65, ’55, ’45, ’35, and as far into the past as possible. Come one, come all. Bring your friends and family, classmates (and teachers, if they’re still tottering about) and folks in the neighborhood. Tom Klem is recruiting attendees from the Class of 1995, Andrea Fox is attempting the same for the Class of 2005. Anyone out there who’d like to do the same for your class, have at it. Y’all come!

he James A. Garfield Historical Society enjoyed three rings of excitement—celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, Open House(with potluck dinner) for the public and a slightly irregular monthly meeting for March, held on Tuesday, March 17, rather than on Monday, March 16. All in a good cause.

The March 23 meeting of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club featured the program by Adam Wohlever, District Manager of the Ohio State Parks Division of Natural Areas and Preserves.

Garrettsville - It was a buoyant mood at the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club on Monday, March  16 as the group heard from incipient new member, Adam Jenkins, of Edward Jones Investments, and Megan Ryser, of Garfield High School, who will be competing in the 4-Way Speech Contest, representing the local...

Another weekend, another home & garden show! Getting to the John S. and James L. Knight Center in downtown Akron is not real tough, although the predominance of one-way streets does sometimes make it a little tricky if you should happen to miss a turn.  There’s a parking garage nearby...

The ladies and gentlemen of the Garrettsville-Hiram Rotary Club were pleased to host Ms Cheryl Warren, incoming District Governor of District 6630 ( Northeast Ohio) at their recent meeting on March 2. As it was their regular business meeting, their guest was able to get the lowdown on the many local projects and activities that Rotary pursues in the community.

• Just in case you missed it, The Tenth Annual John M. Watson Memorial Concert will be presented on Friday,   March 6, 2015 in the Hayden Auditorium at Hiram College.  The Orchid Ensemble will take the stage at  7:30 p.m. offering a much-praised program of innovative music combining...

So….  Here’s the skinny—could be  literally—on what’s happening as “The Y” comes to Garrettsville. The facility is located at 8233 Park Ave. (the old Garfield Intermediate School, the old Garfield Middle School/Junior High, the old Garfield High School--once upon a time before the consolidation and the construction of the current...