WBON (Women Business Owners Network) meets Thursday, Nov 19, 2009
Speaker:

Dr. Beth Bronneman of Family Wellness Chiropractic

Topic

Discuss Stress & the Immune System
 
Location / Time

Mutt & Jeff’s At Dragon Ranch Golf Club
9488 Leavitt Rd., Amherst Township
(1 mile south of St. Rt. 113 on St. Rt. 58)
6pm

Business Spotlight

 
Julie DiFlippo, Certified Ballroom Dance Instructor

It is Very Important to R.S.V.P.
Locations, Speakers & Spotlights – Subject to Change
Call: Debra James 440.985.2570 or
Karen Cheshire 440.986.3200

 The WBON is in the NEWS!

At every meeting we collect items for:
 Second Harvest Food Bank
and Veteran Welcome Kits.

Please bring only Non-perishable, Non-ethnic items
for Second Harvest Food Bank

Veteran Welcome Kits.  A list of needs can be downloaded here.

Sheffield Village OH ~

Crafters & Vendors wanted At St. Teresa of Avila Parish
Annual Craft Show 2009

Deadline for Registration End of Business Day, Friday, 9 Oct 2009
contact Bonnie Kirtos  440.934.2176

Friday, 6 Nov 2009, 5P – 8P
Saturday, 7 Nov 2009, 9A – 3P

St Teresa Village Crafters Annual Craft Show 2009
St. Teresa of Avila Parish
1878 Abbe Rd
Sheffield Village OH
Admission $1 (includes raffle)
children 12 and under FREE
Artists and vendors from around the area with unique and handcrafted gifts and home decor items

Friday: Dinner served 5p – 7p
Saturday: Lunch served 10A – 2P

Amherst Township, OH-

Local Women Business Owners Network (WBON) is meeting Thursday, September 17, 2009

Speaker:
Melinda Mallari Swan of Precision Market Services

Topic
Marketing in Today’s Economy

Location / Time

Mutt & Jeff’s At Dragon Ranch Golf Club
9488 Leavitt Rd.
Amherst Township (1 mile south of St. Rt. 113 on St. Rt. 58)
6pm

Business Spotlight

Brenda Van Dress of
Wildtree - Naturally Nutritious Food Products

It is Very Important to R.S.V.P.
Locations, Speakers & Spotlights – Subject to Change

Call: Debra James 440.985.2570 or
Fran Campana 440.396.5454

At every meeting we collect items for:
 Second Harvest Food Bank
and Veteran Welcome Kits.

Please bring only Non-perishable, Non-ethnic items
for Second Harvest Food Bank

Veteran Welcome Kits.  A list of needs can be downloaded here.

 
Please bring collections to the meeting.
Karen Cheshire will collect and deliver the items.

Amherst, Ohio -

State Representative Terry Boose will be on hand to listen to the public about State issues that effect their daily lives.  The Representative will also take the time to update constituents on what has happened in Columbus since taking office.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 7 p.m., Trinity Evangelical Free Church, 46485 Middle Ridge Rd., Amherst, OH  44001

Amherst OH - 

Marion L Steele – Class of 1979 – 30th Class Reunion Weekend Agenda for July 31 & August 1, 2009

When:      Friday, July 31, 2009
                      Ziggy’s Sports Bar And Grill (UPSTAIRS)
                      7pm to ????
                      no cost to get in—this is pay as you go

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *      

When:  Saturday, August 1, 2009
                      - Dancing in the Streets weekend (Downtown Amherst)

Where:      Amherst VFW, 165 Cleveland Ave

Time:         5:30pm – Cocktails;             6:30pm Buffet Dinner

Cost:           $30.00 / person 
                       Cash bar ($2.00 / bottle bear or alchoholic drinks)

Please join the FACEBOOK group
                              - “Marion L Steele Class of 1979, 30 Year Reunion! “

Or, eMail mlsclassof1979@hotmail.com for more information and updates.

No computer? Call Ken Daidone at his work number and leave a message: 800-211-0017 Ext 102

or mail payment to:
JLS Marketing Concepts Ltd
4884 Higbee Avenue NW, Suite 200
Canton OH 44718
Attn: Ken Daidone

Please RSVP by Tuesday, July 28, 2009

30th year Reunion board members:
Ken Daidone
Tracy (Warstler) Anderson
Nancy Reph-O’Keefe
Krista K Gable
Ramona (Graziano) Ockajik
Rich Kopronica

Amherst OH –

The Annual Women Helping Others (WHO) Club old-fashioned ice cream social will be Sunday, May 17, 2009 from 1 – 3 p.m.
It will be held at the Amherst Veteran of Foreign Wars, 165 Cleveland Ave., cost is $5 per person.

Tickets can be purchased at the door.  All proceeds to local scholoarships.

I’d like to congratulate Eric “Rick” Bender of New Mexico. I read in James M Beidler’s column, “Roots & Branches” in the Lebanon Daily News dated Mar 2, 2009 that while attending a funeral in Connecticut he acquired a “treasure trove” of information by way of a photo album from 1872.

I’ve been there! As a family historian of two family reunions in two different states it amazes me how I “acquire” items from people (some relatives, some not) that have major “clues” in them. Family Reunions (sometimes family reunions occur at funerals or any other location when least expected, like a pretzel shop in an old town, Manchester, Washtenaw County, Michgian where I just happened to stop on a trip home) take on a whole new dimension!

Many years ago I acquired my great-great-grandmother’s velveteen photo album from the same time period as Mr. Bender only in Michigan. While I was ecstatic to own the heirloom album, more than half of the pictures are unmarked and unidentified. Some are marked, most are not. So, I have beautiful photographs in great condition that I am unable to identify them - to make it worse, the relatives most likely to be able to identify the photos are either deceased or are in various stages of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Sigh.

Mr. Bender, you’re very lucky! 

I’m on a mission. Every photo I take or photo that is given to me un-marked – gets identified.  Even if I have to pester the person who has given in to me by eMail, visit them in person, send them via US Mail, Facebook, Fax Machine, PDF,  or telephone to get the names of the persons in the photos.  Depending on the method used - it can me an expensive endeavor! 

It saddens me when I attend a garage sales and flea markets where family members are selling old photographs and I don’t understand why.  Matter-of-fact, in the past I have tried to talk them out of “selling” the photos.  Do you know what the response is? “The photos are no good to us, the person(s) who could identify them do not remember who they are – she/he has Dementia / Alzheimer’s”.  The translation – the patriarchs of the family never shared the photos with family members when they were younger.  It is SO sad!

In years past, acting as a Genealogy Professional, (not a hobby Genealogist) I have been known to purchase those photos on behalf of families selling them, interviewing them to write down the family history / background, and then review the antique photos for “clues” on the backside of the photos.  What is my goal?  To find the community where the photos were taken and see if there is a Historical Society in the community or county in which to turn in the documentation and the photos.  I assure you somewhere out there – someone (family members or family reunion historians) is  looking for the information and the photos!

Please – those of you who have access to old photo albums or boxes of old photographs, please attempt to identify the people in the photos and write “lightly” on the back of them so others – can not live through the nightmare we (me and others) have been through. Otherwise –  identifying antique photographs will be an expensive endeavor.  Genealogy is not FREE!

Local Women Business Owners Network (WBON) meets
Thursday, May 7, 2009 at Mutt & Jeff’s in Amherst Township.

Speaker
Our very own WBON member, Shirley Hull of Business Advisory Services

Topic
“Marketing Ideas in a Tough Economic Climate  – How to get the Most Bang for Your Buck”

Location / Time:  
Mutt & Jeff’’s at Dragon Ranch Golf Club
                                     9488 Leavitt Rd., Amherst Township (1 mile south of St. Rt. 113 & St.Rt. 58) 
                                     6pm

Business Spotlight

Brenda Van Dress of Dove Chocolate Discoveries

It is Very Important to R.S.V.P.
Locations, Speakers & Spotlights – Subject to Change
Call: Debra James 440.985.2570 or
Fran Campana 440.396.5454

At every meeting we collect items for:
 Second Harvest Food Bank
and Veteran Welcome Kits.

Please bring only Non-perishable, Non-ethnic items
for Second Harvest Food Bank

Veteran Welcome Kits.  A list of needs can be found here.

Please bring collections to the meeting.
Karen Cheshire will collect and deliver the items.

Amherst OH -  The world renown “one-man volleyball team“, Bob Holmes  is coming to Northeast Ohio. 

This is the same Bob Holmes who has been been interviewed by CNN  and  has been written about by Ripley’s Believe it or not, twice!

He’s beaten:
the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins, the Buffalo Bills (three times), the New England Patriots, the Baltimore Orioles (with Cal Ripken & Jim Palmer), and yes, even the Pittsburgh Steelers!

In Amherst, Bob Holmes, is coming to Amherst Steele High School Main Gym,  450 Washington St.,  Wednesday evening, May 6, 2009, at 6:30p.m. to challenge teams from Trinity Evangelical Free Church  and the Amherst Steele High School Girls volleyball team as he shares inspirational encouragement.

Other Northeastern Ohio school systems teams being challenged are in Streetsboro and Lorain’s Admiral King High School, Longfellow, and Whitter Middle Schools.

Actually – I think I already know! Over the Easter Weekend, I was reading a backlog of Lebanon Daily News newspapers I have received in the last several weeks. I love this out-of-state newspaper from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania! It’s folksy (Is that a word?). One of the columns I read in this paper is a genealogy column called Roots & Branches by James M. Beidler which normally appears in the Monday edition of the paper.

In the paper dated March 23, 2009 – the headline got my attention: “DEATH-CERTIFICATE EFFORT NEEDS NOISE“. Mr. Beidler states, “It’s time for genealogists in Pennsylvania to make some noise about access to death certificates…”

There is a group organized by a man named Tim Gruber of Allentown, Pennsylvania, called “People for Better Pennsylvania Historical Records Access” has spearheaded reintroduction of legislation to the state. One of the Representatives of the state of Pennsylvania, Richard Grucela, of Nazareth, Pennsylvania has introduced “a vital – records modernization measure as House Bill 931 because the bills introduced last year died with the end of the last 2007-08 legislative session.

The Bill has 67 co-sponsors in the house! The Bill has been assigned to the Health & Human Services Committee“.  The column goes on to quote Mr. Gruber, “that legislators and the Governor need to hear from genealogists for the Bill to become a law – remaining SILENT won’t get them to do anything.” (I wonder can residents outside of Pennsylvania – raise a little noise?)  The answer, YES!

The column continues to say, “The Bill that has been introduced would address the Number ONE problem from a researcher’s standpoint: That there is no type of index available to the public in which to search”.  This is due to the fact that Pennsylvania is a Closed Record State“…which really means only “certain” people can get a copy of a certificate.

The column continues to say,  “The Bill that the group is backing allows for a “blackout” period of 50 years after the person’s death before access to a certificate is eased. The blackout period was inserted to address the privacy concerns.”

The column continues….”One of the main ways that the Division of Vital Records enforces this provision is to require quite a bit of information (Do you remember when you gave blood? Do you remember the registration process and procedures you went through to give? Well, the process to verify the facts in Pennsylvania, feels the same way for me!) on the application for a death certificate – including items like dates of birth and death” (which you’re trying to VERIFY, right?).

It’s a challenge to verify any facts be if for yourself or for a client. Look at this way, they’ll release the record to you if all the pertinent information you submitted matches the information in the record!  Which costs $9 by itself - that does not include the cost of two envelopes and postage for each (yes, I said two).  Think about it, you send one envelope with postage on the outside and inside is the request form, a brief letter to accompany the form, your payment, and a Self-addressed stamped envelope.  Then you wait for months for a reply and HOPING it is for the RIGHT person.  That’s right; you may have requested a record that when you finally receive it – it’s not the right person.  The dates matched, the name matched, the birth and death locations matched – BUT – it MIGHT not be the right person(s).  Guess what? You’re out the money!

At any rate this article has hit my hot button.  I think I know exactly how I became a Lebanon Daily News Obituary Data Hog, remember I confessed several months back that I am Lebanon Daily News Obituary Archivist; I am pretty sure it’s because of the Pennsylvania “closed record law”.  I’m pretty sure over the years I got annoyed at the wait time to get a record and you have to know the person real well before the record will be released! 

Pennsylvania is the Keystone State – the early years of the United States. If  a person of record has been deceased over 100 years – why is it so difficult to verify the facts? As I stated before, Genealogy is not FREE is it?