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Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
For love of the game; cellphones get new life
By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009
This is one of a series of columns on what local folks are doing to ''Make a Difference'' in these economically challenging times.
''Kids 4 Coleman'' are seven busy cousins who are carving out time this summer for an important cause.
''We are banding together and are planning to work this summer to raise money for the Coleman Adult Day Services in Ravenna. This organization is near and dear to our hearts because of our grandparents (Stephen and Rosemarie Mandalari of Kent) who have been involved with charitable works and helping others their entire lives,'' their well-organized statement reads.
''Today our grandparents are among those who need assistance and are unable to do for themselves or others due to poor health. We are doing this work to honor them and to help other aging adults in need.''
The cousins — all from Stow — have set the bar high on their fundraising activities: Bowling events at Kent Bowling Lanes; an Applebee's Dining to Donate event at the Stow restaurant; a poker tournament later in the summer at Roses Run in Stow; a Dessert Extravaganza 6 to 9 p.m. July 22 at Coleman Adult Day Services (area restaurants are asked to donate desserts; tickets are $10); raffles and auctions; and summer birthday parties for cousins Maria Bowen and Rachel Reilly, who have asked partygoers to donate to the center in lieu of other gifts.
The Kids 4 Coleman also are thinking ahead to winter, doing Temo's Chocolate Christmas tree sales.
Meet the cousins: Lauren Spalding, 24, first-year medical student at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa.; A.J. Spalding, 22, a junior at John Carroll University; Stephen Spalding, 18, a senior at Walsh Jesuit High School; Frank Bowen, 19, a freshman at the University of Akron; Maria Bowen, 17, a sophomore at Walsh Jesuit; Rachel Reilly, 14, an eighth-grader at Holy Family Catholic School; and Regina Reilly, 12, a sixth-grader at Holy Family.
Lauren Spalding said the cousins are also motivated in their mission by her parents, Julie and Alan Spalding (Julie is on the board at Coleman), and by the other aunts and uncles, Jean and Tom Geopfert, Joyce and Jim Bowen, and Jackie and Bill Reilly.
Incidentally, all of the daughters have a hand in taking care of the Mandalaris.
Interested in purchasing tickets to any of the events, donating or being added to the mailing list of events? Please e-mail Kids4Coleman@gmail.com.
The cousins' mantra — which I believe is worth sharing in the event you need some motivation — is this: ''You can complain about the world or do something constructive about it. Which are you going to do?''
Longtime tribe fan
Of course Wadsworth's Betty Ahl would like to see the
Cleveland Indians having a better season.
Even so, Mrs. Ahl — a huge Tribe fan — is eagerly looking forward to Sunday afternoon, when her team takes on the Cincinnati Reds.
Saying that the Wadsworth widow and retired hairdresser has waited a long time to attend her first game is a major understatement.
According to Jennifer Walsh and Kristin Hyla — spokespersons for HomeWatch CareGivers, which provides non-medical, in-home care services — the 90-year-old, wheelchair-bound Mrs. Ahl has waited ''more than 65 years'' to attend a game ''but for one reason or another has never made it downtown to experience the live cheers of the crowd, the flavor of a ballpark frank or the excitement of a home-run ball being hit into the stands where she's sitting.''
Come Sunday, she and her daughter Cheryl Davis — a resident of Wadsworth's Menwa Apartments — will be in the stands.
Davis won the tickets HomeWatch raffled off at a senior fair held at Menwa, making it possible to fulfill her mother's long-held dream.
HomeWatch owner Paul Bonacuse purchased an additional ticket for a trained aide to drive mother and daughter to the game and stay with them the entire nine innings, if need be.
Not so tragic ending
I was pleasantly surprised by a call from a woman who identified herself as ''one of the two women mentioned in my (June 24) column about the kindness of the staff and shoppers at Wal-Mart (on Hudson Drive).''
Another very passionate reader had earlier relayed how well everyone behaved during what she called a tragic situation. ''When I looked I saw two women sitting on the bench. The tragedy was that the older woman was dead. It was obvious to any viewer.'' Then the reader went on to talk about how everyone sprang into action and in such an honorable way.
The daughter of the woman identified as deceased called to compliment everyone involved. She, too, said she believed her mother had died and could certainly see how others thought that.
Later, I received an e-mail from the hospitalized woman's son:
''The final part of this story is that in fact it is not a tragedy. My mother was revived by the paramedics and taken to the hospital,'' wrote Gary L. Gerbach, Ft. Bragg, N.C.
Fortunately, a paramedic explained, ''Mom's pacemaker returned her heart to normal rhythm and she woke to their care . . .
''Thank you to the caring members of the Wal-Mart staff on Hudson Drive and the wonderful patrons who provided my frantic sister [Sandee Powell] and wonderful mother [88-year-old Dorothy Gerlach] the room to turn this perceived tragedy into a happy result.
''I live away from my family because of my service to the military. I am glad to know that there are caring citizens in Cuyahoga Falls, even though they don't know someone, [who] still have the compassion to help.''
Cellphone recycling
Jeremy Graber of Canal Fulton, owner of EnviroCellular Cellphone Reuse/Recycling, ''helps area groups recycle/reuse cellphones as a way to raise money. Peoples' old cellphones are something that's lying around, yet for the most part overlooked. I help groups in the area tap into [this] valuable and constantly renewing resource to bring funds into their programs.'' For more information, please call 330-802-8026.
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
This is one of a series of columns on what local folks are doing to ''Make a Difference'' in these economically challenging times.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Hartville, OH
Posted 06:37 PM, 06/27/2009
This is one amazing family, thank you for what you do.
