Der Tag…the Day is upon us!
It’s beginning to look a lot like....O.K., who left the Clint Eastwood glam pin-ups on the fridge? Get them down right now and put them with the Chuck Klamer voodoo figurine...the one with the pins in it. Put a red bow on the top; it’ll work. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Christmas Walk and it’s coming this way. NOW! The outside...
Making Time for You
Being a small business owner is both rewarding and challenging. While handling finances, marketing, inventory, sales and a million other responsibilities, it’s easy to neglect taking care of yourself. It’s crucial to prioritize your well-being for your business’s long-term success and health. To get you started, here are a few tips. Define Your Work Hours: By setting clear start and...
The Old Farmer’s Almanac revisited.
What Dave Barry always calls “an alert reader” stopped me the other day in the PCDL and asked if I wasn’t going to write some more stuff drawing on the abovementioned publication and it seemed like a good idea, so here we are. The Old Farmer speaks : (Freely translated by yours truly) What is it that everyone quotes the...
Mantua-Shalersville Fire District News
Mantua - At the last regular meeting, Chief Matt Roosa informed the Fire Board that the department would be holding emergency vehicle driver training class in mid September. The education and training team from Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (VFIS) will facilitate the two-day event. This annual training exercise will include classroom work and hands-on driving training exercises, according...
Alea jacta est
Or “Alea iacta est,”, if you are a Latin purist (I know you’re out there somewhere.). Mrs. Grissinger, my Latin teacher in 9th and 10th grades, probably wasn’t up on the latest translation/ third person singular/imperative and all that, or any other notions of what Suetonius said that Caesar said. Anyway, supposedly, this is what Julius Caesar said when...
Ahhhhh….. Spring!
If Jack-in-the-Pulpits are any indication, my yard is a veritable vegetation revival! Nothing in the bulletin tells what the message is. They’ve popped up in the front, the back, the side lawns. They’ve out hustled even the ferns. They’ve beaten the trilliums, hands down. Wonder what got into them all of a sudden. Maybe the ferocious cold that knocked...
Viral Verities
This is a compendium (a summary or abstract containing the essential information in a brief form; a concise but comprehensive treatise) of goofiness inspired by what is going on--or not-- all around us. The random items appearing either in the papers or online seem to be getting weirder every day. And speaking of that, here’s an item that I found...
Feedback and Food For Thought
We are some six weeks into this topic of 65 and Single Again. I have gotten a great deal of feedback about the articles via e-mail, over the phone, and more often than not, in person. A great many people seem to identify with this predicament of life. The column mirrors their struggle and they are searching for solutions. As well, it has generated a good bit of thought on my part, re-thinking certain things, postulating new, and contemplating where to go next.
Speaking of Graduation….
And speaking of graduation…. Well, isn’t everyone? High schools…colleges…pre-schools& kindergartens…wait…pre-schools & kindergartens? Yup. Saw it in the R-C picture congrats. All very well and good, I suppose, and grandparents like to get in encouragement wherever they can but what’s the kid have to look forward to if they’ve already done graduation at age four? Little tykes are going to...
“I have this shrub growing in my garden…”
“I have this shrub growing in my garden,” said the Newton Falls Public Library patron, as she showed a small branch to the library staff member. “Can you help me figure out what it is?” The branch had small white flowers, about an inch long, growing in pairs from a single stalk. The leaves were opposite of each other,...
May be… Maaayyybe not…
I was thinking that May would be pretty quiet, once the monumental trip to Chicago was over, things might calm down, I might be able to kick back, relax, let the mind wander (as it is wont to do), do some stuff that had fallen by the wayside, as often happens, get some things done, maybe. May be… First of...
After The Flood
We think that the second dove has not returned to the boat (Genesis 8:6-14) so we might be able to begin thinking about returning to what passes for normal around here.Normal is a pretty flexible term. It included the annual academic awards program, recognizing just rafts of outstanding individuals, many of the usual suspects who’ve been raising the bar...
Makin’ A List…
Now that the clock tower lights are lit, Santa has made the first of his (many) local appearances…for lunch, for breakfast, for pizza, etc….it’s time to get down to some serious shopping—preferably local, but wandering off into the exotic every so often. So, in pursuit of exotica (Try looking that up on the internet some times; Sears & Roebuck ,...
Red Letter Day
A RED-LETTER DAY Or a red something, anyway. As I have said before, you can’t make this stuff up. It seems that in Sheboygan, WI a group of brewers has got together to raise money for charity by being featured—mostly in the buff—posing in a calendar which will be sold online or at numerous bars, liquor stores and groceries in Wisconsin...
A Pretty Fair Day
Have I got a deal for you! IBM (Irresponsible Bad Mamma) cat had kittens on the back step, in a specially-designated box—with lining and cover, and just as the little mites were beginning to open their little eyes, she hauled them off somewhere unknown and they were not seen or heard from again. End of story? Not on your tintype! I...
A Quiet Week
Well, it’s been a quiet week in Little Garrettsville. (Lake Wobegone was another story) BUT…things are moving along. The paving over the “grooved pavement” is inching toward finished; there are lines and everything. Crews are on-site to take down the perennial eyesore downtown which has been “slip-slidin’ away” for –LO!—these many years. Haz-Mat suits and all, they seem to be doing...
A File In The Cake?
I’m sure that somebody is going to “rat me out” and tell the Portage Park District that I’ve been pulling up plants along the Headwaters Trail. Indeed, I have been doing exactly that but the evidence will show that what I’ve been pulling up is a vast number of invasive weeds known as Garlic Mustard. Actually, it’s kinda cute,...
It Must Be Spring!
Must be Spring, the litterbugs are out in their cars—at least I assume they’re not the type to be out walking to enjoy the benefits of nature—and they’re pitching trash out of the windows of said vehicles. I picked up, I think it was, six cans on my way around the village in the morning. ( This is all...
Let’s Get The Mantua Center School Back On Track
So, who is to blame here? We seem to be a society fixated on pinning the blame on someone or something. The war is over people!!! Blame? Forget the blame (Hint, Hint)! Forget the name calling!! We’ve now documented and recorded for posterity the sometimes sordid history! The world-renown magnificent school building, constructed in 1914, has sat vacant, and...
Beyond the Regifting: Discovering the Fascinating History of Fruitcake
Certain sights and sounds are ingrained in the holiday season, from twinkling lights to carols piping over retailers’ sound systems. Amid the shelves of holiday wares and delicacies, fruitcake makes its annual appearance. Fruitcake, sometimes referred to as plum cake or Christmas cake, can be prepared in various ways. However, a dense bundt-type cake dotted with dried, candied fruit and...
Spoiler Alert
This is about the Portage County Park District, first in what will probably be a series of rants. Portage County DOES HAVE a park district. CATCH : Over 800 A of the land comprising the district are currently inaccessible because of a lack of funds. The budget has been severely cut, with the 2014 revenues projected to be only $99,500...
All You Need is Love
Well, not exactly. The Beatles got a lot of things right but this sentiment is not really gonna cut it when it comes to public works…like, say, the Portage County Park District. Saturday, April 22, was the annual Portage Park District Foundation recognition benefit dinner event, giving credit where credit was due to many of the folks (not all, mind...
I’m Doomed
I know; this may not be news to some but I was sort of hoping to avoid a swift descent to the fiery furnace for another decade or so, maybe more if I kept moving and eating enough dark chocolate. This assessment has been confirmed by finding in yet another slick magazine in my too-wide assortment of subscription reading material(...
Curiouser and curiouser…
Curiouser and curiouser…as Alice said during her adventures in Wonderland…. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)’s Mars Science Laboratory has just succeeded in landing the spacecraft Curiousity on Mars, the culmination of more than three decades of planning and building, theorizing and research, not to mention scrounging for money. The possibility of finding evidence of life on Mars is a motivator,...
And Another Thing…
I keep discovering (Not through Spring Cleaning–perish the thought) more stuff to put out on the Big Community Yard/Garage Sale coming up in May (as advertised on the electronic bulletin board downtown at the light). Tons-o-stuff stashed around here; some of it I vaguely remember acquiring, some of it, might as well have come from King Tut’s tomb or...
How to Prepare For The Upcoming Buying Season
Competition is rising for the record low number of houses available. Interest rates are going to rise. Steps to take to be ready to buy: Connect with a realtor, who can get insider info of the market. When house inventory is low, who do you think knows about houses coming available first? Your realtor will introduce you to some lenders...
Vintage News James A. Garfield Historical Society
In 1886, Kitch Payne, a Nelson resident, who was a great sturdy fellow, honest and good-natured as the day is long, and well into his seventies, still loved to hear the old neighbors tell of his encounter with a burglar many years ago. Kitch was chopping out a farm for himself in the forest, when a store at Garrettsville,...
The Big Fandango
So here I am at the BIG FANDANGO at the Longaberger Basket Outlet Store at Aurora Premium Outlets and I’m making a basket…me, Little Miss Craftperson, whose biggest venture into crafts was probably when I used to make molds out of modeling clay and pour plaster-of-paris horse heads, later hand-painted, as gift items for favored individuals (Mom still has...
“I’m having a problem with my cable company and can’t resolve the issue…”
“I’m having a problem with my cable company and can’t resolve the issue. I was told to contact my local franchise authority, but I can’t seem to locate a contact number. Can you help me?” Many of the Newton Falls Public Library staff also have cable service and were curious to see what could be found to assist this...
Messages From Mother Nature ~ White?
During the winter months in northeast Ohio, snow isn’t the only thing that is white. When the snow flies…. some animals turn white too! Say what? As we all know birds, insects, and animals have different strategies when dealing with winter in northeast Ohio. Most birds migrate south, some insects bury themselves in the ground, some reptiles and amphibians...
