Blurbs From The 'Burg

Coming out of my cave to see Perrysburg in great weather

Gorgeous weather has helped me discover Perrysburg more and more the past few weeks. 

When I started working here it was mid-February and it felt like mid-February, so I didn't end up exploring as much as I would have liked to. Now with the sun out, and temperatures sizzling I can't stand being cooped up in a building anymore and it has helped me venture outside.

In the past few weeks I've been able to walk around the downtown area, check out the Maumee River up close, see Woodlands Park, browse the Perrysburg Farmers Market, and enjoy bacon wrapped around a hot dog at Swig's on its patio after church Sunday.

Today with my fiancee visiting we went to check out Woodlands Park, not too far away from my apartment. We were surprised with all it had to offer from walking trails, to disc golf, and grilling/picnic areas. We brought our baseball gloves to play catch and I tossed her grounders and pop-outs to practice for our co-ed softball team we want to play on. One of my overthrows did leave her on the disc golf fairway with someone gearing to tee off.

Here is my fiancee and southpaw Sarah Martens who played catch with me at Woodland Park Today.

There were people walking dogs, a father and daughter flying a kite, and people enjoying the beautiful weather. 

Another thing I've enjoyed last week was walking down to see the Perrysburg Boat Club set up. After trying the Perrysburger my step dad, mother, and I walked down to check out the Maumee River and Commodore Perry statue. 

Here is a look at the Maumee River last Monday.

With the weather in the 80s though, the next thing I'm ready to discover is my apartment pool that opens this weekend. It is such a tease sitting there unoccupied with the water shining in the sun.

'Best mother of all time' to get visit from her Perrysburg son

I am about to be starting my third month with The Blade, and living in Perrysburg. While everything has been wonderful one main thing has been missing: My mother. 

Me and my beautiful mother, Cecile Priestley, before my senior year prom.

Coming to this area was like a homecoming of sorts since my mom grew up a farm in Findlay and went to Cory Rawson High School. Living here has been great, but it feels strange living in Ohio while my mother is in Michigan. 

Every Mother's Day growing up, my brothers and I used to pile into whatever vehicle she had at the time and take U.S. 23 South, past Perrysburg, to Findlay to visit my grandma. This weekend I will reverse my trip, heading north on 23, and I'm sorry to disappoint all you other sons and daughters out there - but I'll be visiting the best mother of all time.

There is really little debate over this fact.

My mom, Cecile Priestley, missed only one baseball game in my entire high school career, and I constantly remind her about my base hit and stolen base that day. My mother used to get up at the crack of dawn and drive me to high school at 5 a.m. for driver's ed and football workouts. 

She would always get me some of my favorite cherry pie, but then come down on me about making curfew in high school. I frequently received the "if [insert friend's name] jumped off a cliff would you, too" speech, and encouragement after losing a little league championship game in eighth grade.

More than anything my mother was always there for me, whether it was keeping me company in the cold bleachers, or after I was separated from my friends going into middle school and felt alone. She has always loved me no matter what - even if I got in trouble, or embarrassed her with my goofy nature. 

Sunday she will celebrate Mother's Day, and Monday is her birthday. 

I can give her flowers, tell her I love her, and even mistakenly try to bake something [better yet have my fiancee bake her something]. But nothing will ever express how much I love my mother, and how grateful I am for her.

Thanks mom, I love you.

Child sex abuse training

Child sex abuse is a topic most people don't want to discuss, avoiding it so they don't feel uncomfortable.

The fact is, it is a problem and a danger we have to guard our kids against. 

I've been in the fortunate position to never have been directly or indirectly involved with the issue. But that could blind me, making me less able to protect the children I hope to have in the future. 

Because I hate feeling ignorant and uninformed about a topic, when I received a press release from the Perrysburg Schools about a child sex abuse training I thought it was something I should look into. After a three-hour training session Monday night, I'm glad I did. 

My view Monday night.

The training taught me what "abuse groomers," do to manipulate a child and family. I learned how it is usually people you trust, not strangers. I also sadly found out how common it is. One out of six boys, and one out of four girls encounter sexual abuse, according to the Stewards of Children. I have five brothers, so according to those stats, one of us logically would have been a victim.

Workshop officials also said how most child victims never report the abuse. While I believe that statement, the journalist in me asked the presenter how experts find that information. Program facilitator Sandi Nugent, from the Family and Child Abuse Prevention Center, explained how the results were through studies after things would come to light and several people would come forward about an abuser, as well as studying children's habits.

Some signs the program taught me were physical, but mostly emotional and behavioral effects of abuse. Falling grades, change in behavior, withdrawal, depression, unexplained anger or rebellion, as well as nightmares or bed-wetting from kids who have outgrown it are some of the warnings.

It was explained that you need to stay calm and not get upset while a child tries to tell you about a situation so they feel OK talking to an adult about it. 

More importantly I learned that this is a real problem that happens to real people, it is not just a statistic. Growing up I looked up to a high school English teacher and football coach who later was caught doing inappropriate things with a girl at school. It happens in the friendly, small towns, too.

I'm thankful I went because when I do decide to have a child I will know not to avoid the topic. I will want my child to know I won't be mad at them, and will tell them to immediately tell me if someone touches them inappropriately, that it is not OK. That I will believe them even if it is someone we know and previously trusted - because it is usually those people.

I would urge anyone who is suspects child abuse to contact the Children's Advocacy Center at 419-292-2927. The affect it could have on the welfare of our young people is profound. 

Very impressed with running community stepping up after Boston bombing

Only 10 days ago, two explosions went off and so many runners were stopped short of achieving that dream of crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon.

So many were injured, and lives were lost.

Thursday night's event at Levis Commons in Perrysburg could never bring those lives back, or heal the wounded, but a group of runners helped the healing process for a country and a city hundreds of miles away.

Second Sole had a line out the door for more than 30 minutes selling "Boston Strong" T-shirts, before a three-mile run around the commons. Some runners had their Boston Marathon apparel on from participating in this year's event, or previous years.

Lisa Stevens, who finished the Boston Marathon last week - she was not injured - was there Thursday and said it was great to see the support of so many all over the country after the scary event last week.

All the proceeds from these T-shirts sales went to One Fund Boston, a charity endorsed by the Boston Athletic Association and mayor of Boston to aid bombing victims. After huffing and puffing through a three-mile jog, I went back and asked about sales: volunteers said they sold around 200 shirts before selling out of most sizes and have another 100 ordered. At $20 a pop going completely to charity that would be about $6,000 - a rough estimate as volunteers will continue to sell shirts and take donations. 

To me, that is a running community in this area stepping up big time for a grieving city.

And make no mistake about it - this is a running community. I found that out the hard way with my run.

 

I'm the goofball wearing a silly smile, ballcap and Central Michigan shirt on [I was proud of Eric Fisher a football player I covered at CMU get taken No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft Thursday.]

I felt great starting the run. It was a great day and I felt like I was in the middle of the pack with a good pace, and then I started to realize how far three miles really is. I looked to my left and saw a 2011 Boston Marathon jacket, and then a 1996 Boston Marathon jacket and I felt like I was doing great and in good company. Then I watched those jackets until I couldn't see them anymore.

Saddest part of my run was a turn coming down Levis Way when the group was heading back toward Second Sole. I thought I was nearly done with the run without going through too much pain when I started seeing people jogging back toward me. We were only half done and turning around at the roundabout - demoralizing. 

I felt a boost of energy when I saw Ms. Stevens behind me at one point and thought 'hey I'm not doing so bad, a marathon runner is behind me.' I quickly lost that energy when around mile two she practically sprinted past me and joked that I needed running shoes. The worst part was after I finished my three miles, she kept running. 

I stepped out of my car when I got home and felt a strong burn in my calves and realized maybe I should go back next week. I was so out of shape.

It was great to run with such nice people; outstanding athletes that finished the Boston Marathon. It was a honor just to run with them.

But it was even better seeing people in Perrysburg rally after such a tragedy shook a running community.

Checking out Way Library's open house during National Library Week

It is so refreshing to walk into Way Library in Perrysburg and see so many programs and activities going on.

My last job I worked in Coldwater, Mich., and a constant story while I was there was the struggle the local library had with its funding. The state couldn't fully fund it anymore. Hours were cut on libraries throughout the county, and book selections were cut down too. Library staff's shrunk. It did not appeal to the community, and it was not being properly funded.

That is not the case in Perrysburg and at Way Library. The place is busy and lively with activities for everyone.

All day Wednesday Way Library held its open house in celebrating National Library Week, but it is not just an open house that brings people to the local library. Documentary showings, senior citizen help filing taxes, computer and mobile phone classes are just some of the many programs that drive people to the library.

There is a children's section where kids can play with toys and sit on comfy couches and read books. There is a section for people job hunting that has tips and resources to help with the search. There are obviously books on everything, and if there is a book you want they don't have they likely can get it. Movies and television series are available to rent for a week that has a selection that may be better than Netflix.

Wednesday I took the opportunity to get my library card at Way and I found a book I may be interested in. Currently I'm reading Playing with Purpose: Inside the Lives and Faith of the NFL's Top New Quarterbacks -- Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, and Tim Tebow while the title may be outdated it is still makes for an interesting read and was a great Christmas present from my soon to be mother-in-law.

Since I am nearly done with that book I may have found my next read, ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun while I was browsing Way Library. Hoping there are some interesting stories on the famous sports networks and athletes I grew up watching. 

This brings up a great discussion topic though. The famous deserted island question: if you were stuck on an island, what three books and three movies would you want to have with you?

For me I would have to select Friday Night Lights, A Purpose Driven Life, and The Bible. Sadly I have yet to read A Purpose Driven Life but I hear it is incredible and inspirational, and honestly, if I'm on an island I want a new book. The movie selection was nearly impossible, but I would say The Sandlot, Major League, and The Shawshank Redemption. I warned readers I am a baseball nerd, and Shawshank would give me a mix of a serious but great film.  

Hope readers comment and share the three books and movies they would choose.

It was a walk in the park

As an engaged man who will be having his fiancee move to a state she has never lived in, I feel like it is my job is getting her as excited as she can be about Perrysburg.

After our wedding Aug. 31, she will be a Perrysburger - so that entails getting her pumped about it.

I've already shown her Mr. Freeze, which was a big hit, but now I showed her the park in town. 

We went to W.W. Knight Nature Preserve on a beautiful day last week to take a stroll, find the trails, and continue to discover Perrysburg, well this was in Perrysburg Township.

Even though hearing the busy road and seeing railroad tracks is not what we are used to with parks, it still made for a nice afternoon.

Sarah at first talked about how it would be a nice running trail for her during the summer -- until I saw a sign saying don't exceed 5 mph. That led me to telling her when she runs, I'll have a speed trap in the woods up the path with a speed gun to make sure she is abiding by the law.

The coolest, most exciting, part of the walk through the Knight Nature Preserve was easily seeing a deer walk right through the path and not be scared of us at all. Where we are from in Michigan, if a deer sees or hears a human, it takes off running because it is afraid of a bullet in its side. It was really neat to see a deer so calm and so close to us. 

In the photo above if you look in the middle of the photo above the where the trail breaks to the left you can see the doe walking through. 

There also were several birds, and we saw one particular bird chow down on a little worm on the path.

That leads us to the audience participation portion of the blog. Sarah says the bird had a black back and wings with an orange/white front and was a robin. But, obviously I thought it was an Oriole, since it was an Oriole. I was hoping a bird lover could help us out with our dilemma of what it is. Otherwise I will continue to look at Major League Baseball logos to decide what kind of birds it is.

Any day in the beautiful sunshine and my gorgeous fiancee is great, but I look forward to the next time she visits and I can take her to something else to get her excited about moving to Perrysburg -- just as I have been.

Perrysburg March Madness competition has a winner

After an exciting, high scoring NCAA national championship basketball game between Louisville and Michigan our Perrysburg March Madness competition came to an end. 

Three of our contestants with Perrysburg ties picked Louisville to win: Perrysburg Mayor Nelson Evans, Perrysburg Fire Chief Jeff Klein, and The Blade's executive editor and Perrysburg resident, Kurt Franck.

While Mr. Franck had the tiebreaker closest to the final score, a Blade employee was not allowed to win the Mr. Freeze prize -- I don't think anyone was worried about me winning it. 

Mayor Evans predicted the total points scored in the title game closer than Chief Klein, so Mr. Evans will be enjoying a nice Mr. Freeze treat. 

It was a very fun competition and I am really grateful for all who participated making it an exciting few weeks of watching basketball.

If anyone is wondering, I nearly finished dead last. Virginia Commonwealth University beating Michigan in the second round seemed like a great idea on my part three weeks ago.

Now, it is baseball season. Maybe we will have another contest for who will win the Home Run Derby? Or World Series?

Thanks for playing!

Crack of bat blasts in spring more than the calendar

Hearing the ping of the softball bat hitting a ball this week made me realize something.

It is spring.

I'm sorry March 20, but you mean nothing to me regarding when spring is here. I realized Tuesday evening, albeit it extremely chilly while I was at Perrysburg High School watching the Yellow Jackets girls varsity softball team face Columbus DeSales. 

"Did you see the tag?" DeSales coach Julie Barber asked the first base umpire as she stepped on the to field of play.

There was frustrated coaches, strikeouts, and sunflower seeds - sadly none for me - which meant one thing to me: spring.

I never knew spring as April showers and May flowers, like some folks. I grew up knowing spring from playing baseball throughout my life. Games in late March and early April games to make sure our school got a full season in before school let out for summer. Springs for me were filled with long sleeves, dirty-sweaty, curved ballcap lids, and sitting on buckets of seeds in a dugout as we batted.

Early spring meant pitching with fingers so cold you could barely grip the ball, or standing left field during long innings and the wind made you feel like a penguin on a glacier.

"We can not give them extra outs," Perrysburg coach Ryan DeMars said to his team in a huddle. I can't remember how many times we had coaches tell me that when I was young.

Those aren't bad memories though, it meant baseball/softball is back. It meant summer is near, and there are only a few weeks of the freezing baseball games until you had perfect blue skies and a summer breeze at your back in the batters box. 

Standing outside the first base side fence Tuesday made me feel at home. It reminded me of where I came from, and it reminded me it is spring. 

Perrysburg March Madness competition may need tiebreaker

March Madness and the NCAA tournament proved to be as unpredictable as always with none of our contestants correctly picking multiple teams in the Final Four.

Wichita State ruined most of the brackets that had Ohio State moving on. Not one of our predictions had Syracuse or Wichita State.

Jeff Klein, Tom Hosler, Kurt Franck, Nelson Evans, Brad Bodnar, and Austin Darket each had one Final Four pick right, creating a six-way tie for the lead in our competition for a Mr. Freeze prize.

Mr. Klein, Mr. Franck, and Mr. Evans all have Louisville winning - which would obviously make a three-way tie. If Louisville makes it to the title game it would be a four-way tie including Mr. Hosler and Mr. Bodnar. Depending on how far Michigan goes Mr. Darket could win too.

Considering a tie is likely, we will have each person that correctly picked a Final Four guess how many total points will be scored in the championship game. 

Next week someone will be enjoying a treat from Mr. Freeze and, for the next year, enjoying the title of Perrysburg's March Madness competition champion. 

Walking through garden at 577 foundation

While waiting anxiously to get married at the end of August I have been looking for things in Perrysburg to get my fiancee excited about moving here - not that she isn't.

When she visited a few weekends ago Mr. Freeze was a big hit.

Tuesday I found another spot that I know she will love - the 577 foundation. 

From inside the geodesic biodome at 577 foundation.

While walking through the garden and then the geodesic biodome I knew this was a place to show her - and my mother - when she visits. The different bright colored flowers, wonderful smell and freshness, and of course the fish will all be fun to experience. 

There are some big fish there.

At first the size of the fish really caught me off guard with the large koi, tilapia, and gambusia, and the golfish were big and bright. The fish just swim around and under the plants growing throughout the pond in the dome, some poke their heads out of the water to say hi. 

It was also interesting to look through the information on classes that 577 has to offer. Once my fiancee does get here it might be a cool idea to take a pottery class or wood carving to make something new together and meet other people in the community. You will not find me in a cooking or yoga class though... 

The children's class that takes them to the farm to milk the cows planted a great idea in my head for the future.

This garden is definitely a place I can show my fiancee and know that she will enjoy it. Can't wait to keep learning about other hidden gems in Perrysburg.