Orchids and onions
ORCHID: To the 117 students of Howland High School teacher Peri Graf’s Principles of Food and Global Foods classes for baking hundreds of cookies and for making holiday greeting cards in special packaging for the 100-plus veterans who stop by Veterans Outreach in Liberty. The project provided a double whammy of benefits. The students benefited by learning various skills from the experience, whether it be how to coordinate better with others, basic cooking skills or how to read and follow the details of a recipe accurately and successfully. The veterans benefited by enjoying the tasty and thoughtful gifts and by knowing that their selfless service to our nation continues to be appreciated and honored.
ORCHID: To the Braceville Community Foundation for its success in putting the finishing touches on the Braceville African American Heritage Museum off Cedar Street in the township. It’s set to open this spring. We’re confident the new museum will live up to its purpose of highlighting the township’s and Trumbull County’s key roles in key moments in history, including the Underground Railroad of the 19th century and the Great Migration northward of African Americans in the early 20th century. It also will spotlight the lives of famous Braceville natives including boxer Earnie Shavers, pitcher Ted Toles and author Emma Rood Tuttle. The museum is bound to be the pride of Braceville and a tourist attraction for many in and outside of the township.
ONION: To the Ohio General Assembly for once again failing to take decisive action on the status of the death penalty in Ohio in the 2023-24 session. State senators and representatives had several bills offering options from abolishing capital punishment altogether to permitting alternatives to lethal injections as the ultimate punishment for capital criminals. Once again, the bills for the most part languished without making it to the full body for final votes. In effect, that means those bills are killed and the entire excruciatingly slow process must start anew in 2025 with reintroduction of the legislation. That lack of will to take resolute action is yet another slap in the face to surviving family members and friends of the victims of murders and other capital crimes, many of whom have been waiting for decades for closure and justice.
ORCHID: To Joe and Pam Kerola, longstanding supporters of Youngstown State University, for pledging $750,000 to the Kilcawley: Centered on the Future campaign. Their significant and generous community-minded contribution will support the renovation and modernization of Kilcawley Center, the heart of student life at the university. Kerola, a member of the YSU Board of Trustees, aptly underscored the importance of the $43 million campaign: “Kilcawley Center is more than just a building; it is a place where students come together, learn, and build connections that last a lifetime. We hope this contribution will help make Kilcawley an even more dynamic space for current and future generations of students.”
ORCHID: To Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Andrew D. Logan for his three decades of service on the bench. Logan, who retired at the start of the new year, can look back at his tenure with great pride. He oversaw many needed physical improvements and renovations to the county’s stately courthouse. Most notably, however, he was the driving force behind implementation of the county’s drug court which has grown to be one of the most successful in the state in rehabilitating nonviolent drug offenders and providing them with a fresh and promising start in life. His many successful re-election victories illustrate just how much the residents of the county valued his leadership as well. To be sure, his successor Sarah Kovoor, a former assistant county prosecutor and longtime private-practice attorney, has some mighty big shoes to fill.
ORCHID: To the American Heart Association and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce for providing 500 schools in the state with cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and resources. The recently announced project is designed to ensure students know how to respond to a cardiac emergency. We urge all school systems in the Mahoning Valley to take advantage of this potentially life-saving opportunity.