My Town

Storm in Sylvania

The Midwest is certainly feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy. In Sylvania right now, it's a chilly 38 degrees and ice lined my windshield when I got in my car this morning. While that's nothing compared to what happened on the East Coast, there have been many predictions about how bad this area is going to be hit. 

In July, when a summer storm came flying through Sylvania, Olander Park was hit badly. An estimated 18 trees were completely damaged at the park, during the thunderstorm, which caused around $10,000 in damages. It also took around 10 days to clean up the fallen branches. 

Yesterday, I asked Gary Madryzkowski, director of the Olander Park system, whether he was anticipating damages this time around. It always seems like winter storms can be slightly worse than summer ones, although I know that's relative to the situation. 

"I don't know about anyone else, but I am holding my breath [and] crossing my fingers as hard as I can. So far, so good, in that nothing has come down," he told me.

Mr. Madryzkowski also said there hasn't been any damage yet, to the young trees they planted in the restoration effort after the summer storm. 

"But there are too many hours yet, with too much strong wind to come," he added.

A rainy day photo, from the car.

Photo by: Kelly McLendon

*A few cities have also changed Trick-or-Treat plans, but so far, Sylvania and Sylvania Township are still scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31. 

Sylvania Ghost Sightings

Next week is Halloween.

That means two things: 1. it's time to hear a few ghost stories, and 2. all of the seasonal candy is about to go on sale.

It just so happens that there are a few ghost stories involving the Sylvania area. I asked Gayleen Gindy of the Sylvania Area Historical Society, if she knew of anything and she told me about a few sites that have been linked to ghostly activity.

“One story that had been told for many years is that our Ravine Cemetery is haunted by a woman who was married three times and the family did not know which husband to bury her with,” Ms. Gindy wrote, via e-mail. “Books written by Chris Woodyard have talked about that legend.”

Ms. Gindy herself has also written several books, one that even talks about a murder that happened in Sylvania that has been linked to paranormal activity as well. Here's the cover:

The story is gruesome.

“Downtown Sylvania is haunted by the woman that was murdered by her husband and then he cut her up and burned her in their wood burning stove,” Ms. Gindy said, adding that the house of the two used to be “located in the area where Ace Hardware is located today.”

There have also been claims that Jenna's Mediterranean Restaurant, located in downtown Sylvania, also experiences its share of unexplained happenings.

For more information about the history of Sylvania or about the Historical Society, visit www.sylvaniahistory.org.

Outside in Sylvania: What's new

A few exciting environmental things to report in Sylvania that happened last week/this week:

1. Partners for Clean Streams, the organization that hosted the 16th Annual Clean Your Streams project last month, (click here to read the story I wrote about the group of Lourdes University students who helped with the event...), released a few statistics on the event:

• 1,175 people participated
• The amount of trash removed from local waterways: 18,882 pounds
• 274 tires were removed and recycled

 

2. Last Thursday, I was also out at Camp Miakonda, learning about how the space will soon be used as an ecological learning center. Blade photographer Jetta Fraser and I got a complete tour of the space and had the opportunity to see many interesting things (including getting to walk out in the middle of a lake that was recently drained).

Here are a few photos from that interview:

For now, Lake Sawyer has been drained/is in the process of being emptied. A road was built so that trucks can move around. Photo by: Kelly McLendon

Walking through the mud. This was definitely the type of story where it was important to wear rain boots! Photo by: Kelly McLendon

Some of the trees haven't even started to change color yet! Photo by: Kelly McLendon

 

3. Oct. 10 was the start of construction on Smith Ditch at Sylvania's Sylvan Prairie Park. I've been following this project for a few weeks and it will include construction work for stream restoration on the ditch.

According to a press release sent out by The Olander Park System's Erika Buri, “D & K Excavating won the bid for the construction phase of the project, which was funded with a $185,000 award from the Ohio EPA’s 2009 319(h) Nonpoint Source grant program.” The project also includes restoring “almost 3,000 linear feet of stream in Sylvan Prairie Park.”

The Lucas County Engineers' Office helped design plans for the construction work. One important thing about this project is that it will help with storm water storage. The channel will have a higher capacity for storage with the new construction.

Over the next few weeks, I'll continue to follow this and update my blog with the news.

Awesome Avocado: Finding the perfect omelet

I've been to many great breakfast restaurants in Toledo and Sylvania in the past few months. But last Sunday, my co-worker Ashley Sepanski and I headed out to a breakfast spot that is close to where we both live (Sylvania). 

We found Scrambler Marie's -- 6819 W. Central Ave. 

The new "Fall Fantastic Flavors" menu was enough to make us think we chose the right place. The Pumpkin Stuffed Pancakes (filled with pumpkin spice cream cheese and topped with powdered sugar and whipped cream) were enticing. 

But in the end, we both chose the Awesome Avocado. The neat thing about Scrambler Marie's is that they feature half sizes. I was able to order a "mini" omelet. It was the right amount of food. 

The Awesome Avocado, complete with a side of fruit (healthy) and a biscuit with whipped butter (unhealthy, but worth it). Photo by: Kelly McLendon.

Ashley, eating toast and looking off into the distance. (Hopefully she doesn't kill me for posting this photo.... ;)  Photo by: Kelly McLendon.

Scrambler Marie's has a few other locations throughout the area. Check them out online at  www.scramblermaries.com. 

Meeting the candidates

Last night I covered the “Meet the Candidates Night” at Sylvania's Southview High School. Let me first just preface this blog post with the fact that I'm generally not interested in political events. This was something I wouldn't have normally attended if I didn't have to cover it for work. But honestly, I'm glad I had to go.

This is probably my first and last political oriented post, although I'm not going to side with any candidate in particular, so don't stop reading now. There will be no endorsements, just observations from the event.

I observed a few things that I'm eager to analyze and write down:

1.Communication styles- It's interesting to see how the five candidates took different routes for trying to persuade citizens to vote for them. Some told stories about their lives and how things that happened shaped them and enabled them to want to make a difference on society, whereas others called out their opponents. Never did the art of speaking effectively make such a big impact on me, as when I watched the different candidates try to explain to listeners why they were the best.

I had the chance to catch candidate Angela Zimmann right after she left the stage and I asked her how she got to be so confident (which probably came out as a really weird question). Without missing a beat, she simply told me that working as a minister, she has had to be in front of crowds of people for more than a decade. Her secret for confident success on the stage was simply just getting out there and doing it over and over.

(Barbara Sears (front), incumbent for state representative in district 47, talks about her platform issues, while candidates Eric Eberly (left) and Angela Zimmann (right) listen. Photo by: Kelly McLendon).

2. Jobs and education- These were the two standout issues that nearly every candidate wanted to talk about. Several of the candidates were interested in vowing to find ways to bring new jobs and to also keep educational processes in check.

3. Absence of women- While 16 candidates were invited, only three of them total, are women: Marcy Kaptur, Barbara Sears and Angela Zimmann.

It was actually my first time writing a politically-oriented story, so if you're wondering how it turned out, here's a link to the result.

After the speeches, the candidates were invited out into the lobby near the Southview theater, to have dessert, drinks and talk with citizens more informally. The event was co-sponsored by several groups, including the Sylvania Schools' Parent School Council, the Sylvania Senior Center and the Northwest Ohio teachers unions. It seemed a fair amount of people stayed after, to chat with most of the candidates.

(Community members received information about voting after candidates spoke, in the lobby in front of the Southview High School theater. Photo by: Kelly McLendon). 

***Also, OurTownPerrysburg.com has a new reporter! Visit Rebecca Conklin Kleiboemer's "Paint The Town Perrysburg" blog here!