'Extreme' TV in Bastrop County as local firefighter gets picked for new home [Tag Heuer watches]
SMITHVILLE — Many things raced through Mizzy Zdroj's head when "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" host and designer Ty Pennington knocked on the door Wednesday morning to tell the volunteer firefighter that in a week, she will be getting a new house.
"'Overwhelming' comes to mind," said Zdroj, whose lost her home while she was fighting the wildfires that began Labor Day weekend.
Thanks to the ABC show and Bastrop homebuilder EFC Custom Homes, the member of the Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department is getting a $250,000, 2,500-square-foot home to replace the 724-square-foot recycled bungalow that burned .
"When they came to the door, I had to ask myself if this was happening. My kids will be in a home for Christmas," she said.
The Zdrojs are temporarily staying nearby in the guest house of fellow firefighters. Before the fire, the Zdrojs were subsistence farmers, raising their own vegetables. Chickens provided eggs. They ate rabbit, chickens and deer. The family had planned to move into an 8-by-20 shed on their 7-acre property on Cottletown Road this weekend.
Surrounded by media, neighbors, 85 "Extreme Makeover" staffers and various volunteers, Zdroj, husband Chris, 8-year-old twins Ash and Raist
lin and grown daughter Whitney Niemann were blown away by the attention. After the media event, the family was flown to New York for a free vacation.
When they return on Wednesday, their house will be finished. "Before long, we'll be canning pickles, gathering eggs and planting a garden," Mizzy Zdroj said. "There are lots of changes in our lives, but we have a lifestyle that we want to pass on to our kids."
Eric Christophe, president of EFC Custom Homes, said he'll be done in 4 1/2 days. "Normally, a house like this takes 60 to 90 days to build, but we have 100 men working on it plus all the community volunteers," he said.
George Verschoor, the show's executive producer, said more is in store. "We also have something planned for the Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department," he said.
"'Overwhelming' comes to mind," said Zdroj, whose lost her home while she was fighting the wildfires that began Labor Day weekend.
Thanks to the ABC show and Bastrop homebuilder EFC Custom Homes, the member of the Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department is getting a $250,000, 2,500-square-foot home to replace the 724-square-foot recycled bungalow that burned .
"When they came to the door, I had to ask myself if this was happening. My kids will be in a home for Christmas," she said.
The Zdrojs are temporarily staying nearby in the guest house of fellow firefighters. Before the fire, the Zdrojs were subsistence farmers, raising their own vegetables. Chickens provided eggs. They ate rabbit, chickens and deer. The family had planned to move into an 8-by-20 shed on their 7-acre property on Cottletown Road this weekend.
Surrounded by media, neighbors, 85 "Extreme Makeover" staffers and various volunteers, Zdroj, husband Chris, 8-year-old twins Ash and Raist
lin and grown daughter Whitney Niemann were blown away by the attention. After the media event, the family was flown to New York for a free vacation.
When they return on Wednesday, their house will be finished. "Before long, we'll be canning pickles, gathering eggs and planting a garden," Mizzy Zdroj said. "There are lots of changes in our lives, but we have a lifestyle that we want to pass on to our kids."
Eric Christophe, president of EFC Custom Homes, said he'll be done in 4 1/2 days. "Normally, a house like this takes 60 to 90 days to build, but we have 100 men working on it plus all the community volunteers," he said.
George Verschoor, the show's executive producer, said more is in store. "We also have something planned for the Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department," he said.
From King's Road to Kenya: Vivienne Westwood's new fashion journey [Tag Heuer watches]
In a whitewashed building in Nairobi's industrial area, scores of women are sewing handbags for some of fashion's best-known labels. But as their machines clack rhythmically they are also crafting a new future for themselves.
On a table by the open door there is a pile of Vivienne Westwood cloth totes, and the vivid colours of Carmina Campus bags by Ilaria Venturini Fendi spill across a bench.
Nairobi's Hub workshop is the heartbeat of Ethical Fashion Africa, a not-for-profit group created by the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint UN and World Trade Organisation body, to empower marginalised people by linking them up with fashion houses and distributors.
The women are from some of Nairobi's most deprived areas – Kibera, Korogocho, Dagoretti and others. The production room hums as ceiling fans slice the muggy air of Kenya's rainy season. Thousands more work from home on the bags and accessories that will end up in designer stores across the world.
Joyce Kamau, a single mother with two children, works as a supervisor. She started at Ethical Fashion Africa two years ago and says she can now provide for her family's basic needs. "We didn't know we could get to this," she says, gesturing to some startlingly bright machine embroidery. She said others in the group once found the work difficult but, she said: "I encourage them and I inspire them."
The slogan adopted by Ethical Fashion Africa is "not charity, just work". The factory is hidden away at the back of the GoDown, a thriving community of artists and musicians on the edge of Nairobi. As well as Westwood and Fendi, Stella McCartney sources work here, as do European distributors such as the Italian retailer Coop. There are plans to move into the US next year through a deal with Wal-Mart to distribute products online.
Westwood's involvement has made the biggest media splash. In August she launched, from Nairobi, a collection of bags called "Handmade with Love", and she also filmed her autumn campaign in the city.
"Vivienne has a long-term commitment, which is good … now the next step is to start growing together to expand," said Simone Cipriani, head of the ITC's poor communities and trade programme.
About 5,000 people in Kenya are involved with the initiative and 90% of them are women, mostly from disadvantaged or isolated communities in Nairobi and beyond.
Training is key; before they are assigned an order the women are instructed on what to do. The training builds on existing skills such as sewing and tailoring. The women earn money, but more than that they learn techniques that will serve them in the future.
As for the fashion houses, the deal suits them too. "They get unique products … that are worth the money. And, on top of that, they get a beautiful story of responsibility," Cipriani said.
Fashion is fickle: hemlines rise and fall and what was in is very soon out. But Cipriani says this actually works to the project's advantage and helps it achieve all-important sustainability. "The fact that it changes provides new work every six months. The technical capacities never change but with these we can do new work."
Jeremy Brown, product development adviser for the ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, is working with a team of 10 Kenyans to do himself out of a job.
He rummages in a box in his cramped atelier and pulls out a Westwood bag with an orb emblem made from the recycled brass of old taps. Another Westwood bag is lined with old shirts, bought in the secondhand clothes markets of Nairobi. Recycled safari tents, end-of-line canvas and old street banners are all also used in products.
Vincent Oduor, the Hub's human resources manager, grew up in Korogocho shanty town and knows how to quantify the human bottom line of this collaboration between two worlds. The 30-year-old breathes life into the "not charity, just work" motto. "It's very rare for people from Korogocho to get employment. We suffer from social labels," he said. "For [these women] the real joy is based on the dignity they find in working."
On a table by the open door there is a pile of Vivienne Westwood cloth totes, and the vivid colours of Carmina Campus bags by Ilaria Venturini Fendi spill across a bench.
Nairobi's Hub workshop is the heartbeat of Ethical Fashion Africa, a not-for-profit group created by the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint UN and World Trade Organisation body, to empower marginalised people by linking them up with fashion houses and distributors.
The women are from some of Nairobi's most deprived areas – Kibera, Korogocho, Dagoretti and others. The production room hums as ceiling fans slice the muggy air of Kenya's rainy season. Thousands more work from home on the bags and accessories that will end up in designer stores across the world.
Joyce Kamau, a single mother with two children, works as a supervisor. She started at Ethical Fashion Africa two years ago and says she can now provide for her family's basic needs. "We didn't know we could get to this," she says, gesturing to some startlingly bright machine embroidery. She said others in the group once found the work difficult but, she said: "I encourage them and I inspire them."
The slogan adopted by Ethical Fashion Africa is "not charity, just work". The factory is hidden away at the back of the GoDown, a thriving community of artists and musicians on the edge of Nairobi. As well as Westwood and Fendi, Stella McCartney sources work here, as do European distributors such as the Italian retailer Coop. There are plans to move into the US next year through a deal with Wal-Mart to distribute products online.
Westwood's involvement has made the biggest media splash. In August she launched, from Nairobi, a collection of bags called "Handmade with Love", and she also filmed her autumn campaign in the city.
"Vivienne has a long-term commitment, which is good … now the next step is to start growing together to expand," said Simone Cipriani, head of the ITC's poor communities and trade programme.
About 5,000 people in Kenya are involved with the initiative and 90% of them are women, mostly from disadvantaged or isolated communities in Nairobi and beyond.
Training is key; before they are assigned an order the women are instructed on what to do. The training builds on existing skills such as sewing and tailoring. The women earn money, but more than that they learn techniques that will serve them in the future.
As for the fashion houses, the deal suits them too. "They get unique products … that are worth the money. And, on top of that, they get a beautiful story of responsibility," Cipriani said.
Fashion is fickle: hemlines rise and fall and what was in is very soon out. But Cipriani says this actually works to the project's advantage and helps it achieve all-important sustainability. "The fact that it changes provides new work every six months. The technical capacities never change but with these we can do new work."
Jeremy Brown, product development adviser for the ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, is working with a team of 10 Kenyans to do himself out of a job.
He rummages in a box in his cramped atelier and pulls out a Westwood bag with an orb emblem made from the recycled brass of old taps. Another Westwood bag is lined with old shirts, bought in the secondhand clothes markets of Nairobi. Recycled safari tents, end-of-line canvas and old street banners are all also used in products.
Vincent Oduor, the Hub's human resources manager, grew up in Korogocho shanty town and knows how to quantify the human bottom line of this collaboration between two worlds. The 30-year-old breathes life into the "not charity, just work" motto. "It's very rare for people from Korogocho to get employment. We suffer from social labels," he said. "For [these women] the real joy is based on the dignity they find in working."
people&places:old bags to benefit crosstown learning [Tag Heuer watches]
A few years ago, TV talk-show host Jay Leno featured a People & Places column about the Old Bags luncheon in his funny headlines segment. It got a lot of attention and helped the great event with the double-take name become known to even more people.
The fifth-annual go-round benefitting Crosstown Learning Center at Southern Hills Country Club drew more than 400 women who bid on some 350 new and slightly used handbags. That's how the event gets its name - not from - well, shame on you for even thinking that.
Debbi Guilfoyle is executive director of the non-profit early care and learning center in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood.
Ashleigh Boedeker was event chairwoman. Dee Dee Stuart and her daughter Susan Peterson were honorary co-chairs.
Committee members included Nikki Bell, Jane Matulis, Graham Anderson, Hayden Kennedy, Melissa Siemens, Stephanie Galles, Allison Foster, Ruth Addison, Alison Wade, Ashley Farthing, Natalie Graham, Mary Guilfoyle Holmes, Debra Brookhart, Shannon Cornwell, Jenger Baker, Katherine Haskell, Ashli Rogers, Sarah Stewart, Meg Watkins, Dawn Parton, Brooke Sturdivant, Elizabeth Edwards, Ailee Nowlin, Caren Gerkin and Vannessa Hoose.
Jay Litchfield from Bid Out Loud Auctions also led the live auction with designer bags, dinners, vacations and more.
Guests at the event also enjoy lunch and a style show provided by Compliments and The Glass Slipper.
Channel 6's Terry Hood was the emcee and led guests in a fun handbag trivia game.
The "Chanel" bag presenting sponsors of the event were The Hardesty Family Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
Other sponsors included The Mary K. Chapman Foundation and the Hille Foundation, Phyllis N. Dotson, the Merkel Family Foundation, the Stuart Family Foundation, Claudia Abernathy, Patty Cappy, the Cuesta Foundation, Lorn Lyman with Morgan Stanley-Smith Barney, and the Jess L. and Miriam B. Stevens Foundation.
Also ABC Equipment Rental, the Barnett Family Foundation, Ashleigh Boedeker, Citizen's Security Bank, Frederic Dorwart-Lawyers, Hauck Tire & Car Care, Inc., Katheryn M. Pennington, Rogers State University, Rooney Insurance Agency, Therapy Source for Kids, the Todd Family Charitable Foundation, Tulsa People Magazine, Williams Companies and T.D. Williamson, Inc.
Underwriters included the Hardesty Family Foundation, Ruth K. Nelson, Julie and John Nickel, the Oxley Foundation and Williams Companies.
Crosstown Learning Center's newest fundraiser, Just a Little Valentine, is set for Feb. 11.
Crosstown cares for children from age six weeks to prekindergarten from all economic levels, but the majority of children enrolled are living at or below the poverty level. Crosstown's mission is to "Provide educational opportunities in a nurturing environment for children and their families to learn and grow together." If you would like to be a part of next year's event through sponsorship, ticket purchases, handbag donations or volunteering, contact Elizabeth Inbody, event coordinator, at 918-582-1457 or einbody@crosstowntu.
The fifth-annual go-round benefitting Crosstown Learning Center at Southern Hills Country Club drew more than 400 women who bid on some 350 new and slightly used handbags. That's how the event gets its name - not from - well, shame on you for even thinking that.
Debbi Guilfoyle is executive director of the non-profit early care and learning center in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood.
Ashleigh Boedeker was event chairwoman. Dee Dee Stuart and her daughter Susan Peterson were honorary co-chairs.
Committee members included Nikki Bell, Jane Matulis, Graham Anderson, Hayden Kennedy, Melissa Siemens, Stephanie Galles, Allison Foster, Ruth Addison, Alison Wade, Ashley Farthing, Natalie Graham, Mary Guilfoyle Holmes, Debra Brookhart, Shannon Cornwell, Jenger Baker, Katherine Haskell, Ashli Rogers, Sarah Stewart, Meg Watkins, Dawn Parton, Brooke Sturdivant, Elizabeth Edwards, Ailee Nowlin, Caren Gerkin and Vannessa Hoose.
Jay Litchfield from Bid Out Loud Auctions also led the live auction with designer bags, dinners, vacations and more.
Guests at the event also enjoy lunch and a style show provided by Compliments and The Glass Slipper.
Channel 6's Terry Hood was the emcee and led guests in a fun handbag trivia game.
The "Chanel" bag presenting sponsors of the event were The Hardesty Family Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
Other sponsors included The Mary K. Chapman Foundation and the Hille Foundation, Phyllis N. Dotson, the Merkel Family Foundation, the Stuart Family Foundation, Claudia Abernathy, Patty Cappy, the Cuesta Foundation, Lorn Lyman with Morgan Stanley-Smith Barney, and the Jess L. and Miriam B. Stevens Foundation.
Also ABC Equipment Rental, the Barnett Family Foundation, Ashleigh Boedeker, Citizen's Security Bank, Frederic Dorwart-Lawyers, Hauck Tire & Car Care, Inc., Katheryn M. Pennington, Rogers State University, Rooney Insurance Agency, Therapy Source for Kids, the Todd Family Charitable Foundation, Tulsa People Magazine, Williams Companies and T.D. Williamson, Inc.
Underwriters included the Hardesty Family Foundation, Ruth K. Nelson, Julie and John Nickel, the Oxley Foundation and Williams Companies.
Crosstown Learning Center's newest fundraiser, Just a Little Valentine, is set for Feb. 11.
Crosstown cares for children from age six weeks to prekindergarten from all economic levels, but the majority of children enrolled are living at or below the poverty level. Crosstown's mission is to "Provide educational opportunities in a nurturing environment for children and their families to learn and grow together." If you would like to be a part of next year's event through sponsorship, ticket purchases, handbag donations or volunteering, contact Elizabeth Inbody, event coordinator, at 918-582-1457 or einbody@crosstowntu.
Will The Iron Lady make women want to dress like Margaret Thatcher? [Tag Heuer watches]
This is a seismic moment for the fashion industry. This film of which you speak, The Iron Lady, features Saint Meryl Streep doing a jolly imitation of Thatcher, if not quite as good as that of the Thatcher puppet on Spitting Image. Don't worry, Meryl – it takes time to train one's vocal chords to be that deep yet screechy. And one's face to be that Latex. Sure, Ms Streep, you can give good Holocaust grief, but competing with Spitting Image is a different game.
Anyhow, this film combines the three things that fashion editors love to incorporate into an "edgy" fashion shoot more than any other. No, not an androgynous model, clothes made out of wood and a fat celebrity. I speak, of course, of a new movie, an homage to a historical figure and A Strong Woman.
A Strong Woman could mean anything from a political wife (Jackie Kennedy), to an actor (Marilyn Monroe), to a novelist (Virginia Woolf), to a family with dodgy political affiliations (the Mitfords), to a political tyrant (Eva Peron). Whatever, if she was famous and dressed in a vaguely consistent way, she will at some point be resurrected by a fashion editor with a creeping deadline and little concept of what the hell their umbrella term A Strong Woman really means.
The appeal of the historical homage to fashion magazines is, surely, obvious. As many a correspondent to this column has pointed out over the years, fashion trends have an odd habit of being little more than recycled styles from decades past. So imagine how much it must cheer a style editor's fluttery heart to be able to revel in the anachronistic nature of these clothes instead of faffing around with pencil skirts, pedal pushers or, in the case of Thatcher, pussy bow blouses, in an attempt to give them the much-vaunted "modern twist."
As for the movie angle, well, I've never really understood why fashion shoots need any kind of topical hook. Personally, I'd be much happier if they didn't because, second only to setting a fashion shoot in a developing country (look at the model holding Louis Vuitton bags in Ethiopia! Look how adorable that starving child is wearing a Hermès scarf! And how enviably thin her legs are! Who's her personal trainer?), giving a fashion shoot some kind of "peg" is the fastest way to get into trouble. They can, occasionally, work (US Harper's Bazaar is particularly good at doing these well, such as the shoot in which Tyra Banks was styled to resemble Michelle Obama for the inauguration). Mostly, however, they are just dire (fashion shoots inspired by Hurricane Katrina, by 9/11, by tsunamis – oh reader, I have seen 'em all).
And so, in short, let's all gird ourselves for much talk about pussy bows and Thatcher's "admirably consistent style". But you know, if we get to see US Vogue's reimagining of Norman Tebbit and Geoffrey Howe, it will all be worth it.
Fashion magazines praise the Olsen twins but, being Italian and middle-aged, I don't understand why. It seems they are very rich, therefore they can afford everything. They look always dwarfed by clothes too big for them. Am I the only one thinking that they just look weird and are not the fashion icons the magazines tell us they are?
Carla Gaita, by email
One of the many things I love about your missive, Carla, is how you answer your own questions within it. Being middle-aged and Italian is what gives you clear-eyed wisdom, dear woman, not ignorance.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are two young women who, as babies, appeared ("acted" somehow seems too strong a word in this context) in a terrible American sitcom (Full House – not a recommended boxset) but, as far as I know, haven't done a lick of work since they were about eight. As Carla says, they are much praised by fashion magazines because, as she continues to explain, albeit unwittingly, they buy lots of clothes and wear very large sizes making them look even smaller than they already are, and because they are a bit weird-looking. For the second time in one column, we have encountered a trifecta of factors that will turn a fashion editor on faster than a Chanel sample sale.
Anyhow, this film combines the three things that fashion editors love to incorporate into an "edgy" fashion shoot more than any other. No, not an androgynous model, clothes made out of wood and a fat celebrity. I speak, of course, of a new movie, an homage to a historical figure and A Strong Woman.
A Strong Woman could mean anything from a political wife (Jackie Kennedy), to an actor (Marilyn Monroe), to a novelist (Virginia Woolf), to a family with dodgy political affiliations (the Mitfords), to a political tyrant (Eva Peron). Whatever, if she was famous and dressed in a vaguely consistent way, she will at some point be resurrected by a fashion editor with a creeping deadline and little concept of what the hell their umbrella term A Strong Woman really means.
The appeal of the historical homage to fashion magazines is, surely, obvious. As many a correspondent to this column has pointed out over the years, fashion trends have an odd habit of being little more than recycled styles from decades past. So imagine how much it must cheer a style editor's fluttery heart to be able to revel in the anachronistic nature of these clothes instead of faffing around with pencil skirts, pedal pushers or, in the case of Thatcher, pussy bow blouses, in an attempt to give them the much-vaunted "modern twist."
As for the movie angle, well, I've never really understood why fashion shoots need any kind of topical hook. Personally, I'd be much happier if they didn't because, second only to setting a fashion shoot in a developing country (look at the model holding Louis Vuitton bags in Ethiopia! Look how adorable that starving child is wearing a Hermès scarf! And how enviably thin her legs are! Who's her personal trainer?), giving a fashion shoot some kind of "peg" is the fastest way to get into trouble. They can, occasionally, work (US Harper's Bazaar is particularly good at doing these well, such as the shoot in which Tyra Banks was styled to resemble Michelle Obama for the inauguration). Mostly, however, they are just dire (fashion shoots inspired by Hurricane Katrina, by 9/11, by tsunamis – oh reader, I have seen 'em all).
And so, in short, let's all gird ourselves for much talk about pussy bows and Thatcher's "admirably consistent style". But you know, if we get to see US Vogue's reimagining of Norman Tebbit and Geoffrey Howe, it will all be worth it.
Fashion magazines praise the Olsen twins but, being Italian and middle-aged, I don't understand why. It seems they are very rich, therefore they can afford everything. They look always dwarfed by clothes too big for them. Am I the only one thinking that they just look weird and are not the fashion icons the magazines tell us they are?
Carla Gaita, by email
One of the many things I love about your missive, Carla, is how you answer your own questions within it. Being middle-aged and Italian is what gives you clear-eyed wisdom, dear woman, not ignorance.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are two young women who, as babies, appeared ("acted" somehow seems too strong a word in this context) in a terrible American sitcom (Full House – not a recommended boxset) but, as far as I know, haven't done a lick of work since they were about eight. As Carla says, they are much praised by fashion magazines because, as she continues to explain, albeit unwittingly, they buy lots of clothes and wear very large sizes making them look even smaller than they already are, and because they are a bit weird-looking. For the second time in one column, we have encountered a trifecta of factors that will turn a fashion editor on faster than a Chanel sample sale.
Jewell Cardwell: Woman, 91, at last gets wish to ride in airship [Tag Heuer watches]
Heartfelt congratulations to 91-year-old Ruth Ridgley, whose long-awaited
dream of riding on the Goodyear blimp came true on Election Day.
Who says there are no happy endings?
Her granddaughter Jen Berkowitz of Avon Lake shared the beautiful back
story:
'My grandma has lived in Cuyahoga Falls for probably 60 years. Many, many
years ago she and my grandpa were supposed to take a ride on the blimp.
'At the time they were young and didn't own a car. The day came for their
blimp ride and it ended up that there was an issue with their ride, and
they were late to the air dock and they missed their flight.
'This has been something she has always wanted to do, a Bucket List thing
you could say! Blimp rides are extremely hard to come by.”
As fate would have it, Berkowitz attended an auction in Bay Village, where
a blimp ride was one of the prizes. ' I knew I had to win it!” she said.
'The news was spreading through the crowd at the auction of the ‘lady
trying to win this for her 91-year-old grandma.' And as the final minutes
were closing on the auction, a man was standing next to me attempting to
make the winning bid. I told him that I would continue to bid until I won
and then told him why and he graciously put his pen down and allowed me to
win the blimp ride!
'Ironically enough, the next day was Grandparents Day, so my family and I
drove to Akron to have dinner with my mom and my grandma, and it was there
that we told her the news. She was shocked and said that in all of her 91
years, she's never been so surprised as she was about this.”
Accompanying Mrs. Ridgley on the ride were two of her grandchildren,
Berkowitz and Brian Nichols of Stow.
Good Samaritan found
The mystery has been solved!
Carl Thornton of Barberton, an avid reader of my column, saw the item
Wednesday about a woman with a ponytail who drove a red SUV, baby-sat 7-
month-old twin boys and stopped to help a female jogger who had fallen. He
rang his neighbor, whom he suspected had done the good deed.
Turns out he was right.
Lisa Weaver was the woman who turned her vehicle around and stopped on
Nov. 1 to help Janna Le TenHuisen, who had fallen on West Market Street
near Reflections Breast Health Center.
Weaver ended up driving the bloodied jogger home. 'As I was putting her in
my SUV, a nurse from Reflections came out, told her to lean her head
forward, not backward, and to get herself checked out,” Weaver said.
Asked why she stopped to help, Weaver said simply, 'If it was me laying
there, I would have wanted someone to stop.”
Weaver — who has been married 20 years, has two teen-agers, a boy and a
girl, and lost both of her parents last year — is a self-described
nurturer.
'She's a twin taking care of twins,” Thornton wanted me to know.
'Now I understand what my mother went through,” Weaver chuckled.
TenHuisen was eager to learn the identity of the good Samaritan. Weaver
responded, 'I need no thanks but would like to touch base with her. I am
glad to hear she is back to being vertical and normal.”
Tireless volunteer
Hats off to 96-year-old Opal May of Barberton, who has been a longtime
volunteer with Jan Householder's Giving Doll ministry. It provides soft-
sculpture dolls to children in crisis: those battling serious illnesses,
who have suffered devastating losses or whose parents are in the military
serving in harm's way.
'She comes to the Barberton group meeting the third Wednesday of each
month,” said Householder, whose project, begun five years ago, is only
257 dolls away from reaching 10,000.
Warm heart
Big beautiful bouquets again to 90-year-old Ann Bialy.
The Akron woman sent me yet another colorful batch of hats and scarves she
knitted for children in foster care who are under the auspices of Summit
County Children Services.
What a generous thing to do for children she'll never see but will
certainly pray for.
Early holiday dinner
Al Kaf Court No. 144, Daughters of Isis, along with Al Kaf Temple No. 109,
will serve an early holiday dinner to folks in need, A Thanksgiving Feast:
Feeding the Hungry, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Al Kaf Social Hall,
1623 Frederick Blvd., Akron.
For information, please call Daughter Janice Davis at 330-867-6982 or
Noble Bernard Swain at 330-703-9105.
Fundraising evening
A major fundraiser — dinner, music and entertainment by comedian Katrina
Brown — is planned for 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Rafters Bar & Grill
at Meadowlake Golf & Swim to assist Kelley Hankins Spilios in her battle
with multiple sclerosis. Proceeds will go to experimental surgery not
covered by her health insurance.
Tickets, available at the door, are $12. Cash bar, raffles and a silent
auction are planned. Rafters is at 1211 39th St. NE, Plain Township.
Donations also accepted at Huntington Bank in care of the Kelley Spilios
Fundraiser. For information, please call Pete Spilios at 330-371-1056.
Feld honored
Hats off to Akron's Barbara Feld, who was one of four Northeast Ohio
recipients of the 2011 Morgan Impact Award from the Margaret Clark Morgan
Foundation, a Hudson-based private family foundation.
Feld was cited for her imaginative work with Tuesday Musical Association,
especially its Outreach Program 'that gives teachers the opportunity to
offer their students cultural experiences in the arts.”
Parenting class
Pregnant or have a child 12 or younger?
Then it may be prudent for you to be present 11 a.m. Saturday at Akron
Stork's Nest, inside South Arlington United Methodist Church, 790 S.
Arlington St., Akron.
If you attend the parenting or prenatal classes, you can get free baby
clothing. Classes are free and available on a first-come, first-served
basis. Free child care and refreshments available.
Since this is a church, please dress and act appropriately.
The topic this month is immunization, presented by registered nurse Wendy
A. Brolly. For information, please call 330-962-5946.
A huge round of applause to planners of the 73rd annual Viva La Panza
presented by the Italian-American Professional & Businessmen's Club and
House of LaRose, which took place recently at Todaro's Party Center.
Event spokesman Ray Yannucci said the event, which drew a crowd of 682,
raised more than $40,000 for scholarships for Akron-area students of
Italian heritage. Since its 1970 inception, the club has raised more than
$340,000 in scholarship money.
Other major sponsors this year were Brennan, Manna and Diamond, J.W.
Didado Electric, Dave Towell Cadillac & Saab, Hitchcock Fleming &
Associates, WAKR/WONE Radio, Ninni's Bakery and Ciriello & Carr Funeral
Homes. Co-chairmen were Lou Berroteran, John Montisano, Ralph Palmisano
and Ralph Trecaso, with a strong assist from Nick Betro, Mario Caponi,
Rocco Caponi, Jack DeLeo, Tony Gatto, Jim Leone, Dominick Maimone, Joe
Maite, Dominic Rizzo, Frank Todaro and Tom Teodosio.
dream of riding on the Goodyear blimp came true on Election Day.
Who says there are no happy endings?
Her granddaughter Jen Berkowitz of Avon Lake shared the beautiful back
story:
'My grandma has lived in Cuyahoga Falls for probably 60 years. Many, many
years ago she and my grandpa were supposed to take a ride on the blimp.
'At the time they were young and didn't own a car. The day came for their
blimp ride and it ended up that there was an issue with their ride, and
they were late to the air dock and they missed their flight.
'This has been something she has always wanted to do, a Bucket List thing
you could say! Blimp rides are extremely hard to come by.”
As fate would have it, Berkowitz attended an auction in Bay Village, where
a blimp ride was one of the prizes. ' I knew I had to win it!” she said.
'The news was spreading through the crowd at the auction of the ‘lady
trying to win this for her 91-year-old grandma.' And as the final minutes
were closing on the auction, a man was standing next to me attempting to
make the winning bid. I told him that I would continue to bid until I won
and then told him why and he graciously put his pen down and allowed me to
win the blimp ride!
'Ironically enough, the next day was Grandparents Day, so my family and I
drove to Akron to have dinner with my mom and my grandma, and it was there
that we told her the news. She was shocked and said that in all of her 91
years, she's never been so surprised as she was about this.”
Accompanying Mrs. Ridgley on the ride were two of her grandchildren,
Berkowitz and Brian Nichols of Stow.
Good Samaritan found
The mystery has been solved!
Carl Thornton of Barberton, an avid reader of my column, saw the item
Wednesday about a woman with a ponytail who drove a red SUV, baby-sat 7-
month-old twin boys and stopped to help a female jogger who had fallen. He
rang his neighbor, whom he suspected had done the good deed.
Turns out he was right.
Lisa Weaver was the woman who turned her vehicle around and stopped on
Nov. 1 to help Janna Le TenHuisen, who had fallen on West Market Street
near Reflections Breast Health Center.
Weaver ended up driving the bloodied jogger home. 'As I was putting her in
my SUV, a nurse from Reflections came out, told her to lean her head
forward, not backward, and to get herself checked out,” Weaver said.
Asked why she stopped to help, Weaver said simply, 'If it was me laying
there, I would have wanted someone to stop.”
Weaver — who has been married 20 years, has two teen-agers, a boy and a
girl, and lost both of her parents last year — is a self-described
nurturer.
'She's a twin taking care of twins,” Thornton wanted me to know.
'Now I understand what my mother went through,” Weaver chuckled.
TenHuisen was eager to learn the identity of the good Samaritan. Weaver
responded, 'I need no thanks but would like to touch base with her. I am
glad to hear she is back to being vertical and normal.”
Tireless volunteer
Hats off to 96-year-old Opal May of Barberton, who has been a longtime
volunteer with Jan Householder's Giving Doll ministry. It provides soft-
sculpture dolls to children in crisis: those battling serious illnesses,
who have suffered devastating losses or whose parents are in the military
serving in harm's way.
'She comes to the Barberton group meeting the third Wednesday of each
month,” said Householder, whose project, begun five years ago, is only
257 dolls away from reaching 10,000.
Warm heart
Big beautiful bouquets again to 90-year-old Ann Bialy.
The Akron woman sent me yet another colorful batch of hats and scarves she
knitted for children in foster care who are under the auspices of Summit
County Children Services.
What a generous thing to do for children she'll never see but will
certainly pray for.
Early holiday dinner
Al Kaf Court No. 144, Daughters of Isis, along with Al Kaf Temple No. 109,
will serve an early holiday dinner to folks in need, A Thanksgiving Feast:
Feeding the Hungry, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Al Kaf Social Hall,
1623 Frederick Blvd., Akron.
For information, please call Daughter Janice Davis at 330-867-6982 or
Noble Bernard Swain at 330-703-9105.
Fundraising evening
A major fundraiser — dinner, music and entertainment by comedian Katrina
Brown — is planned for 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Rafters Bar & Grill
at Meadowlake Golf & Swim to assist Kelley Hankins Spilios in her battle
with multiple sclerosis. Proceeds will go to experimental surgery not
covered by her health insurance.
Tickets, available at the door, are $12. Cash bar, raffles and a silent
auction are planned. Rafters is at 1211 39th St. NE, Plain Township.
Donations also accepted at Huntington Bank in care of the Kelley Spilios
Fundraiser. For information, please call Pete Spilios at 330-371-1056.
Feld honored
Hats off to Akron's Barbara Feld, who was one of four Northeast Ohio
recipients of the 2011 Morgan Impact Award from the Margaret Clark Morgan
Foundation, a Hudson-based private family foundation.
Feld was cited for her imaginative work with Tuesday Musical Association,
especially its Outreach Program 'that gives teachers the opportunity to
offer their students cultural experiences in the arts.”
Parenting class
Pregnant or have a child 12 or younger?
Then it may be prudent for you to be present 11 a.m. Saturday at Akron
Stork's Nest, inside South Arlington United Methodist Church, 790 S.
Arlington St., Akron.
If you attend the parenting or prenatal classes, you can get free baby
clothing. Classes are free and available on a first-come, first-served
basis. Free child care and refreshments available.
Since this is a church, please dress and act appropriately.
The topic this month is immunization, presented by registered nurse Wendy
A. Brolly. For information, please call 330-962-5946.
A huge round of applause to planners of the 73rd annual Viva La Panza
presented by the Italian-American Professional & Businessmen's Club and
House of LaRose, which took place recently at Todaro's Party Center.
Event spokesman Ray Yannucci said the event, which drew a crowd of 682,
raised more than $40,000 for scholarships for Akron-area students of
Italian heritage. Since its 1970 inception, the club has raised more than
$340,000 in scholarship money.
Other major sponsors this year were Brennan, Manna and Diamond, J.W.
Didado Electric, Dave Towell Cadillac & Saab, Hitchcock Fleming &
Associates, WAKR/WONE Radio, Ninni's Bakery and Ciriello & Carr Funeral
Homes. Co-chairmen were Lou Berroteran, John Montisano, Ralph Palmisano
and Ralph Trecaso, with a strong assist from Nick Betro, Mario Caponi,
Rocco Caponi, Jack DeLeo, Tony Gatto, Jim Leone, Dominick Maimone, Joe
Maite, Dominic Rizzo, Frank Todaro and Tom Teodosio.
Trying On Different Hats [Tag Heuer watches]
Bike advocacy came easily to us. It was a little more difficult for us to become fundraisers and ask for money. But there is one thing we'd like to ask you today ...
As we were preparing to leave for Hawaii, the final state in our journey, we were thinking back to Halloween, a holiday which gives us the opportunity to become so many things.
Some of you may have put a patch on one eye and suddenly you were a pirate. Or a stethoscope around your neck and you were a Doctor. Or a cowboy hat and you became a cowboy.
We celebrated Halloween by reaching our 49th state and of course we had to dress up. Zombies seemed to be a good, lightweight choice for us to carry on our bikes.
But Halloween wasn't the only time we got to become someone new this year. We've tried on all sorts of hats this year, some we expected, others we just went with the flow. Our most important hat was our bike helmet! Everyday we snapped that helmet in place on our heads and became a bike tourist! We even had the chin strap tan lines to prove it!
We ended up getting pretty good at bike touring: learning to deal with mechanical issues with grace instead of throwing hissy fits on the side of a busy road, expecting a 60 mile day to turn into an 85 miler instead, and adding or subtracting clothing numerous times during the course of the day depending upon whether we were climbing a hill, or descending.
Though a bike helmet was our most permanent hat, we had to play many parts this year. Before we even realized what was happening, we became bicycle advocates. With every new person who stopped to talk with us, we would explain the beauty of bike touring and the ease of bike travel. On our blog (www.giveabike.com) we would share stories and pictures that celebrated the excitement of bike touring, give "how to" tips, and attach links to bike touring companies.
Bike advocacy came easily, but some hats we tried on this year were a little tougher to feel comfortable in.
This year, we played the role of fundraisers and were able to experience all the jobs that go along with that. We marketed our story to media in towns along the way, we primed ourselves for live TV interviews, we searched for contacts in hope for some help with a presentation, and we made up fundraising challenges along the way like our final 11/11/11 Challenge.Though this was the hardest hat to wear, and there were times that we faltered, we had such great support along the way that the hat finally started to fit.
I'm thinking ahead to the next hat we'll try on. Maybe it won't be a hat at all. Maybe, we'll be trying on some Hawaiian skirts in state #50!
As we were preparing to leave for Hawaii, the final state in our journey, we were thinking back to Halloween, a holiday which gives us the opportunity to become so many things.
Some of you may have put a patch on one eye and suddenly you were a pirate. Or a stethoscope around your neck and you were a Doctor. Or a cowboy hat and you became a cowboy.
We celebrated Halloween by reaching our 49th state and of course we had to dress up. Zombies seemed to be a good, lightweight choice for us to carry on our bikes.
But Halloween wasn't the only time we got to become someone new this year. We've tried on all sorts of hats this year, some we expected, others we just went with the flow. Our most important hat was our bike helmet! Everyday we snapped that helmet in place on our heads and became a bike tourist! We even had the chin strap tan lines to prove it!
We ended up getting pretty good at bike touring: learning to deal with mechanical issues with grace instead of throwing hissy fits on the side of a busy road, expecting a 60 mile day to turn into an 85 miler instead, and adding or subtracting clothing numerous times during the course of the day depending upon whether we were climbing a hill, or descending.
Though a bike helmet was our most permanent hat, we had to play many parts this year. Before we even realized what was happening, we became bicycle advocates. With every new person who stopped to talk with us, we would explain the beauty of bike touring and the ease of bike travel. On our blog (www.giveabike.com) we would share stories and pictures that celebrated the excitement of bike touring, give "how to" tips, and attach links to bike touring companies.
Bike advocacy came easily, but some hats we tried on this year were a little tougher to feel comfortable in.
This year, we played the role of fundraisers and were able to experience all the jobs that go along with that. We marketed our story to media in towns along the way, we primed ourselves for live TV interviews, we searched for contacts in hope for some help with a presentation, and we made up fundraising challenges along the way like our final 11/11/11 Challenge.Though this was the hardest hat to wear, and there were times that we faltered, we had such great support along the way that the hat finally started to fit.
I'm thinking ahead to the next hat we'll try on. Maybe it won't be a hat at all. Maybe, we'll be trying on some Hawaiian skirts in state #50!
Golfers rally for a cure [Tag Heuer watches]
RICHMOND — Saturday, at the Pioneer Golf Club (BGAD) twenty-three golfers teed it up in a scramble to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer. After a beautiful day for golf, the team hoisting the flag of victory, with a thirteen under par 59, was Mark Buttry, Ron Scott (Hoghead), Mike and Nick Bowling.
The players then enjoyed a special luncheon for a $2.50 donation and Jason Brandenburg presented the winning team their prizes.
This season ending tournament did not have a very big field but it did raise $500.00 thanks to a lot of big hearted people. Jason Brandenburg started this charitable event four years ago and it has surely helped the cause. My hats off to you, Jason, and to the players and sponsors that helped. Mahalo!
EKU women seventh in final fall event
In their final golf action for 2011 the EKU women’s golf team placed Seventh in the Fighting Camel Classic in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The twelve team event was hosted by Campbell University and played at the par 72 Keith Hills Country club. Host Campbell, 902, won by a whopping 21 shots over Second Place Illinois, 923. Georgetown was Third, 940. The Colonels finished with a three round total of 970, ten shots behind Sixth Place North Dakota State and five shots in front of Eighth Place Delaware.
Senior Lisanne Schmidt led the way for the Colonels with a 54 hole total of 237 which tied her for 20th overall. Linda Hogberg was Second with 242, Nicki Henry, Third, with 243, Katie Wiedmar, Fourth with 250 and April Emerson, Fifth, with 251.
These sweet swinging young ladies will return to action on February 19 at the Claud Jacobs Challenge in Victoria, Texas. Have a good winter ladies and I hope ole Mother Nature will allow a few practice rounds before your first event next year. Aloha!
EKU’S Schmidt wins another award
For the second time this fall Lisanne Schmidt has won the Women’s Golfer of the Week Award in the Ohio Valley Conference, as announced from their headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee. This award is sponsored by the Adidas Shoe Corporation. Lisanne won this award for her great play in the final tournament of the year in the Fighting Camel Classic in Buies, North Carolina. She fired rounds of 81-77-77 to finish tied for 20th in the 70 player field and helped EKU finish in Seventh Place.
Lisanne has the third best stroke average of women golfers in the Ohio Valley Conference at 75.8. She is a senior so maybe she can help bring another OVC Championship trophy to the Colonels next spring as a graduating gift. Congratulations on a great fall. You da, lady!
Special thanks to Kevin Britton, Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations at EKU for the info.
Harold McKay shoots his age
Late this summer Harold McKay shot his age for the third time when he birdied #17 and made a fifteen footer on 18 for par for his 81. He was playing at Arlington in the men’s Senior League. Great golf, Harold, and sorry this is so late in going to press - better late than never.
Golf Wisdom – You experience so much from golf – like living through a complete confidence collapse. Helen Thompson (P.S. She must have been my age. Ouch!)
The players then enjoyed a special luncheon for a $2.50 donation and Jason Brandenburg presented the winning team their prizes.
This season ending tournament did not have a very big field but it did raise $500.00 thanks to a lot of big hearted people. Jason Brandenburg started this charitable event four years ago and it has surely helped the cause. My hats off to you, Jason, and to the players and sponsors that helped. Mahalo!
EKU women seventh in final fall event
In their final golf action for 2011 the EKU women’s golf team placed Seventh in the Fighting Camel Classic in Buies Creek, North Carolina. The twelve team event was hosted by Campbell University and played at the par 72 Keith Hills Country club. Host Campbell, 902, won by a whopping 21 shots over Second Place Illinois, 923. Georgetown was Third, 940. The Colonels finished with a three round total of 970, ten shots behind Sixth Place North Dakota State and five shots in front of Eighth Place Delaware.
Senior Lisanne Schmidt led the way for the Colonels with a 54 hole total of 237 which tied her for 20th overall. Linda Hogberg was Second with 242, Nicki Henry, Third, with 243, Katie Wiedmar, Fourth with 250 and April Emerson, Fifth, with 251.
These sweet swinging young ladies will return to action on February 19 at the Claud Jacobs Challenge in Victoria, Texas. Have a good winter ladies and I hope ole Mother Nature will allow a few practice rounds before your first event next year. Aloha!
EKU’S Schmidt wins another award
For the second time this fall Lisanne Schmidt has won the Women’s Golfer of the Week Award in the Ohio Valley Conference, as announced from their headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee. This award is sponsored by the Adidas Shoe Corporation. Lisanne won this award for her great play in the final tournament of the year in the Fighting Camel Classic in Buies, North Carolina. She fired rounds of 81-77-77 to finish tied for 20th in the 70 player field and helped EKU finish in Seventh Place.
Lisanne has the third best stroke average of women golfers in the Ohio Valley Conference at 75.8. She is a senior so maybe she can help bring another OVC Championship trophy to the Colonels next spring as a graduating gift. Congratulations on a great fall. You da, lady!
Special thanks to Kevin Britton, Assistant Director of Athletic Public Relations at EKU for the info.
Harold McKay shoots his age
Late this summer Harold McKay shot his age for the third time when he birdied #17 and made a fifteen footer on 18 for par for his 81. He was playing at Arlington in the men’s Senior League. Great golf, Harold, and sorry this is so late in going to press - better late than never.
Golf Wisdom – You experience so much from golf – like living through a complete confidence collapse. Helen Thompson (P.S. She must have been my age. Ouch!)
There's pain in painting ... but pride in the result [Tag Heuer watches]
Her name was Shad and she was red, white and green like the Italian flag, neither of which I could stand (with no disrespect to Italians).
I found her in the corner of a hobby farm on Sydney's outskirts, suspended on a makeshift slipway. Her tandem-axle trailer sulked among dandelions. Leaves and berries littered the cockpit while inside she was dank and unkempt.
Not a great first impression, but I wasn't to be dissuaded for I'd driven through peak hour and pouring rain to find the property.
I haggled for a while with the owner before he named his rock-bottom price. I scratched my chin. It was the right boat at the right price … in the wrong colour.
That could be fixed, I decided, before shaking hands.
Upon getting the boat home the clean-out and clean-up began. Out came the cushions, carpet and accessories, then I went to work with various cleaning products. It's amazing what a difference cosmetic detailing can make. But there was no disguising the hideous topsides. Painting was called for …
Brush, Roll or Spray?
The easiest way to paint, no question, is with a brush, and it's certainly fine for timber craft. But it is almost criminal to leave brush marks on a smooth gel coat surface; you'd be better off polishing.
Spray painting was the next option but in my situation this was relatively expensive. Much of the cost vanishes in thin air, in the form of overspray, and I didn't want to overcapitalise. Also, spraying has to be done professionally in a sealed environment such as a spray booth, whereas I was hoping to do much of the work at home.
I'd previously read about a roller/brush technique that was said to yield a finish almost as good as spraying. You roll on, and then tip off with a brush, so it's reasonably fast. And it's more efficient than spraying, with a fraction of the paint usage. It was the path that I decided to follow.
Paint Brands
The choice of paint was the next decision and from a scientific viewpoint I must profess total ignorance. I don't have a clue what goes into marine coatings, so I couldn't recommend one over another. They're 'polyurethane', that's all I know.
But amateurs should not need a science degree. It's user-friendliness – ease of mixing, pot life, paint flow etc – that really counts, along with price.
Some paints are formulated for spraying and advise against rolling or brushing. The other consideration is whether to use one-pack or two-pack, the latter having a converter - two-pack is worth the extra money to achieve a more durable finish, at least for topsides that cop a beating.
Preparation
As anyone who has painted a house knows, preparation is everything. What is pain-ting without a little pain?
As the old adage goes, you use as much paint to achieve a bad finish as a good, long-lasting finish.
Given the premium price of marine paint, and the nature of the environment, it is even more critical you get the prep work right on your boat.
A good bonding between the old gel coat and the new paint is essential. Second, the surface must be as fair as possible to obtain maximum lustre and remove any blemishes that would otherwise be highlighted by the gloss.
Trailerboats have an advantage in that you can do the prep work at home. Also, the height is such that you don't have to erect scaffolding. That said, moored craft can be done on a hard stand area at the same time as antifouling.
The whole process takes about five days, using my boat as a guide.
There is no rushing the first part of the job, sanding. Shad had a number of gouges that I patched with epoxy filler. I then attacked the hull with an orbital sander, using 120-grit paper. It took about eight dusty, back-breaking, arm-tiring and hand-numbing hours to complete.
Don't go too far with the sanding because a slight grittiness is needed for the primer to grip. Also, pinholes tend to appear in the gel coat because it's a very porous coating. You have to look hard for them because they show clearly when the final coats are applied, at which time it is expensive to fix.
Next was taping the waterline, toerail and fittings, and finally the time had come to rid Shad of her stripes.
The primer was a high-build epoxy that helps to fair the surface when you sand it. Spraying the primer would save sanding time but again it's wasteful and specialised.
I found her in the corner of a hobby farm on Sydney's outskirts, suspended on a makeshift slipway. Her tandem-axle trailer sulked among dandelions. Leaves and berries littered the cockpit while inside she was dank and unkempt.
Not a great first impression, but I wasn't to be dissuaded for I'd driven through peak hour and pouring rain to find the property.
I haggled for a while with the owner before he named his rock-bottom price. I scratched my chin. It was the right boat at the right price … in the wrong colour.
That could be fixed, I decided, before shaking hands.
Upon getting the boat home the clean-out and clean-up began. Out came the cushions, carpet and accessories, then I went to work with various cleaning products. It's amazing what a difference cosmetic detailing can make. But there was no disguising the hideous topsides. Painting was called for …
Brush, Roll or Spray?
The easiest way to paint, no question, is with a brush, and it's certainly fine for timber craft. But it is almost criminal to leave brush marks on a smooth gel coat surface; you'd be better off polishing.
Spray painting was the next option but in my situation this was relatively expensive. Much of the cost vanishes in thin air, in the form of overspray, and I didn't want to overcapitalise. Also, spraying has to be done professionally in a sealed environment such as a spray booth, whereas I was hoping to do much of the work at home.
I'd previously read about a roller/brush technique that was said to yield a finish almost as good as spraying. You roll on, and then tip off with a brush, so it's reasonably fast. And it's more efficient than spraying, with a fraction of the paint usage. It was the path that I decided to follow.
Paint Brands
The choice of paint was the next decision and from a scientific viewpoint I must profess total ignorance. I don't have a clue what goes into marine coatings, so I couldn't recommend one over another. They're 'polyurethane', that's all I know.
But amateurs should not need a science degree. It's user-friendliness – ease of mixing, pot life, paint flow etc – that really counts, along with price.
Some paints are formulated for spraying and advise against rolling or brushing. The other consideration is whether to use one-pack or two-pack, the latter having a converter - two-pack is worth the extra money to achieve a more durable finish, at least for topsides that cop a beating.
Preparation
As anyone who has painted a house knows, preparation is everything. What is pain-ting without a little pain?
As the old adage goes, you use as much paint to achieve a bad finish as a good, long-lasting finish.
Given the premium price of marine paint, and the nature of the environment, it is even more critical you get the prep work right on your boat.
A good bonding between the old gel coat and the new paint is essential. Second, the surface must be as fair as possible to obtain maximum lustre and remove any blemishes that would otherwise be highlighted by the gloss.
Trailerboats have an advantage in that you can do the prep work at home. Also, the height is such that you don't have to erect scaffolding. That said, moored craft can be done on a hard stand area at the same time as antifouling.
The whole process takes about five days, using my boat as a guide.
There is no rushing the first part of the job, sanding. Shad had a number of gouges that I patched with epoxy filler. I then attacked the hull with an orbital sander, using 120-grit paper. It took about eight dusty, back-breaking, arm-tiring and hand-numbing hours to complete.
Don't go too far with the sanding because a slight grittiness is needed for the primer to grip. Also, pinholes tend to appear in the gel coat because it's a very porous coating. You have to look hard for them because they show clearly when the final coats are applied, at which time it is expensive to fix.
Next was taping the waterline, toerail and fittings, and finally the time had come to rid Shad of her stripes.
The primer was a high-build epoxy that helps to fair the surface when you sand it. Spraying the primer would save sanding time but again it's wasteful and specialised.
Why The Howard County Geese Won’t Fly North [Tag Heuer watches]
They’ve tried chasing them with dogs, tricking them with decoys and even blasting them with bright laser beams.
And yet the fact remains:
Canada geese, the charming, honking creatures that produce a pound of waste each day, are a major problem for park managers in Maryland and a particular annoyance in Columbia, where manmade lakes and paths create a lovely habitat for many creatures, whether web-footed or not.
“They leave poop all over the trails,” said Eric Sharkazy of Columbia. “It’s a mess.”
About 70,000 geese stayed put in Maryland a decade ago, said Larry Hindman, Waterfowl Project Leader for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), whose office conducts annual surveys of waterfowl.
That number has remained relatively stable since then, said Hindman.
DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have set the acceptable resident geese population for Maryland at about 30,000, he said.
Kevin Sullivan, a wildlife biologist and Maryland director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the birds, in addition to gobbling up vegetation along lake shores, produce about a pound of waste a day.
The waste leads to increased levels of nutrients getting washed into the lakes, impacting water quality, he said.
The geese stay, because there are few predators and limited hunting, he said.
“Really what you find is a gigantic refuge for them,” he said. “They’ve gone to heaven.”
Columbia Association officials are among those statewide trying to nudge the geese elsewhere.
Last month, the Columbia Association installed lights in Lake Kittamaquandi. The lights sit on black pedestals just above the surface like channel markers and resemble airport runway lights at night.
The geese enter the water and the lights are designed to hinder them from finding a comfortable place to sleep, said John McCoy, the Columbia Association’s watershed manager.
In Columbia, the geese have been a problem for years, said McCoy.
They eat vegetation along lakeshores that was planted to stabilize soils and keep large amounts of sediment from washing into the lakes.
Without that vegetation, the problem could eventually lead to more costly dredging projects, he said.
“We want our sediment going the other way,” he said.
In the past, the CA has used dogs to chase away the geese, and that strategy was successful in removing large numbers of geese from the lakes, but the remaining geese will require the lights, he explained.
Staff at Centennial Park in Ellicott City have tried high-powered laser beams to get the geese to leave, said park operations supervisor and manager, Steven Schwarzman.
Shwarzman said by flashing light beams at the geese, it confuses them, and as a result they don't feel safe and leave the area. This method is similar to hanging brightly colored streamers or strips of Mylar in areas the birds frequent.
Park staff have also coated goose eggs in vegetable oil, a technique called “egg addling,” which prevents the embryo inside from developing.
The most effective means at Centennial, according to Schwarzman, are dead goose decoys. If placed in certain areas they work well, but they have to be constantly rotated, he said.
The geese in Columbia are not, however, a universal annoyance.
In fact, some people quite like them.
William Ryan, who said he visits Lake Elkhorn daily, finds the birds visually appealing.
“It makes the area look nice,” he said. “I like seeing them landing on the lake like a fleet of planes coming in.”
And yet the fact remains:
Canada geese, the charming, honking creatures that produce a pound of waste each day, are a major problem for park managers in Maryland and a particular annoyance in Columbia, where manmade lakes and paths create a lovely habitat for many creatures, whether web-footed or not.
“They leave poop all over the trails,” said Eric Sharkazy of Columbia. “It’s a mess.”
About 70,000 geese stayed put in Maryland a decade ago, said Larry Hindman, Waterfowl Project Leader for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), whose office conducts annual surveys of waterfowl.
That number has remained relatively stable since then, said Hindman.
DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have set the acceptable resident geese population for Maryland at about 30,000, he said.
Kevin Sullivan, a wildlife biologist and Maryland director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the birds, in addition to gobbling up vegetation along lake shores, produce about a pound of waste a day.
The waste leads to increased levels of nutrients getting washed into the lakes, impacting water quality, he said.
The geese stay, because there are few predators and limited hunting, he said.
“Really what you find is a gigantic refuge for them,” he said. “They’ve gone to heaven.”
Columbia Association officials are among those statewide trying to nudge the geese elsewhere.
Last month, the Columbia Association installed lights in Lake Kittamaquandi. The lights sit on black pedestals just above the surface like channel markers and resemble airport runway lights at night.
The geese enter the water and the lights are designed to hinder them from finding a comfortable place to sleep, said John McCoy, the Columbia Association’s watershed manager.
In Columbia, the geese have been a problem for years, said McCoy.
They eat vegetation along lakeshores that was planted to stabilize soils and keep large amounts of sediment from washing into the lakes.
Without that vegetation, the problem could eventually lead to more costly dredging projects, he said.
“We want our sediment going the other way,” he said.
In the past, the CA has used dogs to chase away the geese, and that strategy was successful in removing large numbers of geese from the lakes, but the remaining geese will require the lights, he explained.
Staff at Centennial Park in Ellicott City have tried high-powered laser beams to get the geese to leave, said park operations supervisor and manager, Steven Schwarzman.
Shwarzman said by flashing light beams at the geese, it confuses them, and as a result they don't feel safe and leave the area. This method is similar to hanging brightly colored streamers or strips of Mylar in areas the birds frequent.
Park staff have also coated goose eggs in vegetable oil, a technique called “egg addling,” which prevents the embryo inside from developing.
The most effective means at Centennial, according to Schwarzman, are dead goose decoys. If placed in certain areas they work well, but they have to be constantly rotated, he said.
The geese in Columbia are not, however, a universal annoyance.
In fact, some people quite like them.
William Ryan, who said he visits Lake Elkhorn daily, finds the birds visually appealing.
“It makes the area look nice,” he said. “I like seeing them landing on the lake like a fleet of planes coming in.”
Thrill-seekers to run with the bulls in Arizona [Tag Heuer watches]
The bulls are better tempered, slower and their horns have been blunted, and this definitely isn't Pamplona.
Nonetheless, they are bulls, and nearly two dozen of them will be chasing after hundreds of humans on a quarter-mile track this coming weekend in the small town of Cave Creek, Ariz., despite objections from animal advocates and town officials.
Cave Creek's run is loosely fashioned after the annual event in Spain in which thousands of daredevils trip over each other in a mad dash from angry bulls in the morning and then party in the streets until dawn. Gorings and tramplings are common, and 15 people have been killed since record-keeping started in 1924, most recently a 27-year-old Spanish runner who was gored in the chest and neck in 2009.
Phil Immordino, who's organizing the Cave Creek run, said it does carry risks but that it will be far safer than Pamplona's 420-year-old annual festival.
"Remember, we're in America, not Spain. Everyone's sue-happy," said Immordino, who lives in Phoenix and also organizes golf tournaments. "There's much more danger in Spain and much more of an adrenaline rush. But I guarantee that anyone who gets in our run will have more of a rush than they've ever had in their life."
Immordino has organized similar runs three times, in 1998 and 1999 in the resort town of Mesquite, Nev., and in 2002 in Scottsdale, Ariz. No one was killed or seriously injured in any of those runs.
Still, runners must sign a four-page waiver that doesn't mince words.
"Warning: This activity and your participation in that activity can cause serious injury or even death, and you herby agree to assume all risks," it reads.
Runners also must sign a medical form saying they have not had any booze or drugs before the run, and that they aren't getting treated for certain medical conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, epilepsy, alcoholism or pregnancy, among others.
Immordino also is considering renting out helmets and protective gear for elbows and knees to further reduce his liability.
"If I ever go to court, I've got to have a lot of ammo," he said.
But Immordino said he's confident that it won't come to that, saying the bulls aren't as aggressive as Spain's, that runners will have escape routes if they want to leave the track and that rodeo clowns will be there to rescue those who fall down.
"There's no guarantee there won't be some bumps and bruises and scratches, but it's very, very, very unlikely that there will be anything major," he said.
While Pamplona uses fighting bulls for its runs, Cave Creek's will use rodeo bulls owned by John Hetzel, a bullfighter and rodeo clown living in Gilbert, who raises bulls for his company, Spear J Cattle, and takes them around the country for rodeos.
Hetzel, wearing a cowboy hat and red cowboy boots, said he chose the 21 bulls going on the run mostly for their calm demeanor.
He said runners will be in more danger of getting trampled than gored, partly because the bulls' horns have been blunted. The bulls weigh between 800 and 1,500 pounds.
"But I don't really think the size matters," he said. "It's like getting run over with a VW bug or a truck. They both hurt."
Unlike the Spanish bulls, which are destined for the bullring and bullfighters with swords after their run, the Cave Creek bulls will be taken home to Gilbert and continue working in rodeos.
Even so, animal rights groups are strongly opposed, and officials in the dusty, 5,000-person town of Cave Creek withdrew their blessings when Immordino didn't produce the $3 million insurance policy that they requested.
"He had a $1 million dollar policy, and that did not seem to me to be adequate enough to protect the town in the event something went wrong," Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia said. "I'm responsible for my town, and I can't assume that just because it went well in Mesquite, Nev., that it's going to go well here."
Francia said that he's received dozens of emails from people in and outside of Arizona calling for him to stop the event, mostly arguing that it constitutes cruelty to animals. An online petition has collected about 1,900 signatures in opposition.
Francia said the event is on private property in the town, so his hands are tied.
"I'm a big believer in private property rights, and that's what this is," Francia said. "I'm just going to hold my breath `till we get through this that neither animal nor human gets injured."
Dennis Clancey, a 29-year-old operations manager for Amazon.com living in Phoenix, said he has run with the bulls 20 times over five trips to Pamplona, and will run with the bulls in Cave Creek at least four times over the course of the weekend.
Nonetheless, they are bulls, and nearly two dozen of them will be chasing after hundreds of humans on a quarter-mile track this coming weekend in the small town of Cave Creek, Ariz., despite objections from animal advocates and town officials.
Cave Creek's run is loosely fashioned after the annual event in Spain in which thousands of daredevils trip over each other in a mad dash from angry bulls in the morning and then party in the streets until dawn. Gorings and tramplings are common, and 15 people have been killed since record-keeping started in 1924, most recently a 27-year-old Spanish runner who was gored in the chest and neck in 2009.
Phil Immordino, who's organizing the Cave Creek run, said it does carry risks but that it will be far safer than Pamplona's 420-year-old annual festival.
"Remember, we're in America, not Spain. Everyone's sue-happy," said Immordino, who lives in Phoenix and also organizes golf tournaments. "There's much more danger in Spain and much more of an adrenaline rush. But I guarantee that anyone who gets in our run will have more of a rush than they've ever had in their life."
Immordino has organized similar runs three times, in 1998 and 1999 in the resort town of Mesquite, Nev., and in 2002 in Scottsdale, Ariz. No one was killed or seriously injured in any of those runs.
Still, runners must sign a four-page waiver that doesn't mince words.
"Warning: This activity and your participation in that activity can cause serious injury or even death, and you herby agree to assume all risks," it reads.
Runners also must sign a medical form saying they have not had any booze or drugs before the run, and that they aren't getting treated for certain medical conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, epilepsy, alcoholism or pregnancy, among others.
Immordino also is considering renting out helmets and protective gear for elbows and knees to further reduce his liability.
"If I ever go to court, I've got to have a lot of ammo," he said.
But Immordino said he's confident that it won't come to that, saying the bulls aren't as aggressive as Spain's, that runners will have escape routes if they want to leave the track and that rodeo clowns will be there to rescue those who fall down.
"There's no guarantee there won't be some bumps and bruises and scratches, but it's very, very, very unlikely that there will be anything major," he said.
While Pamplona uses fighting bulls for its runs, Cave Creek's will use rodeo bulls owned by John Hetzel, a bullfighter and rodeo clown living in Gilbert, who raises bulls for his company, Spear J Cattle, and takes them around the country for rodeos.
Hetzel, wearing a cowboy hat and red cowboy boots, said he chose the 21 bulls going on the run mostly for their calm demeanor.
He said runners will be in more danger of getting trampled than gored, partly because the bulls' horns have been blunted. The bulls weigh between 800 and 1,500 pounds.
"But I don't really think the size matters," he said. "It's like getting run over with a VW bug or a truck. They both hurt."
Unlike the Spanish bulls, which are destined for the bullring and bullfighters with swords after their run, the Cave Creek bulls will be taken home to Gilbert and continue working in rodeos.
Even so, animal rights groups are strongly opposed, and officials in the dusty, 5,000-person town of Cave Creek withdrew their blessings when Immordino didn't produce the $3 million insurance policy that they requested.
"He had a $1 million dollar policy, and that did not seem to me to be adequate enough to protect the town in the event something went wrong," Cave Creek Mayor Vincent Francia said. "I'm responsible for my town, and I can't assume that just because it went well in Mesquite, Nev., that it's going to go well here."
Francia said that he's received dozens of emails from people in and outside of Arizona calling for him to stop the event, mostly arguing that it constitutes cruelty to animals. An online petition has collected about 1,900 signatures in opposition.
Francia said the event is on private property in the town, so his hands are tied.
"I'm a big believer in private property rights, and that's what this is," Francia said. "I'm just going to hold my breath `till we get through this that neither animal nor human gets injured."
Dennis Clancey, a 29-year-old operations manager for Amazon.com living in Phoenix, said he has run with the bulls 20 times over five trips to Pamplona, and will run with the bulls in Cave Creek at least four times over the course of the weekend.
