Loveland Magazine

Choirs, bands, dance combine for musical at Epiphany

Foreclosure hitting affluent Ohio counties, too

Ohio's foreclosure problem has been largely viewed as an urban phenomenon but some of the biggest increases in foreclosure filings last year occurred in the state's more affluent counties, a report released Thursday shows.

Read on... Foreclosure hitting affluent Ohio counties, too- cleveland.com.

Hometown of fallen soldier considers possible Bush visit

News first reported by Loveland Magazine now confirmed by Union Township Police

GLEN ESTE, Ohio (Map, News) - A Cincinnati suburb planning services for a fallen soldier also is planning for the possibility that President Bush might want to attend.

Read on... Hometown of fallen soldier considers possible Bush visit - Examiner.com.

Peoria Ceremony honors fallen soldier 'Matt' Maupin

PEORIA, Ill. — Hundreds gathered in a Peoria cemetery to remember an Ohio soldier whose remains were found in March in northwest Baghdad, nearly four years after he was missing and reportedly captured.

Read on... Terre Haute News, Terre Haute, Indiana- TribStar.com - NEW: Ceremony honors fallen soldier 'Matt' Maupin.

LOVELAND, OHIO - Grand opening - Ice Cream Social

by Janis Fogle

LOVELAND, OHIO - Sunday afternoon, June 8 from 1:00 until 4:00 PM promises to be interesting, informative and most of all fun. A formal opening of the renovated Bonaventure House Museum, located on the corner of Park Avenue and Riverside Drive, in Historic Loveland, will be followed by the introduction of “Abe Lincoln”, ice cream, music and tours of the museum.

Abe Lincoln will be played by North College Hill resident Stan Wernz, who graduated from Greenhills High School. He worked for P & G after serving in the US Army, returning to college and earning a Master of Music Education Degree. In the late 1960’s, after growing a beard, one of his students commented that Wernz always acted like Lincoln and now even looked like him - the rest, so they say, is history. Wernz has done extensive research on Lincoln and has developed several programs as “living history” of this nation’s 16th President.

Music for the afternoon will be provided by Loveland resident Harry Perry at the keyboard.

“Vintage” attire and hats are appropriate for this old fashioned gala event. Bring family and friends for some great entertainment. A minimal charge for ice cream and toppings, suggested donation, $1.00 per dip.

Questions about this event should be directed to the Greater Loveland Historical Society Museum, 201 Riverside Dr., open free to the public 1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and by appointment, by calling 513-683-5692.

“I can take Xanax, or I can go to Ohio and help the Maupins.”

By David Miller

It took pickup truck loads to bring all the white handcrafted wooden crosses to the Oasis Conference center in Miami Township Sunday morning. The sheer number of crosses, and then wheelbarrows full, as volunteers distributed them through the front acreage on both sides of the main entrance were mind numbing, yet these don't represent all the grief stricken mothers who lost a son or daughter to our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Three thousand  plus crosses was not enough; more than 4,000 dead to be remembered, mourned, and honored. Eight thousand  moms and dads are just like Carolyn and Keith Maupin, except their son had a four-year-straight tour until they found out he wasn't coming home alive.

On this day 31 soldiers were wounded in Iraq and five more had died, a golfer, took a short cut through the Arlington Cemetery-like memorial to honor the dead, clumsily knocking crosses out of alignment and American flags to the ground with his golf bag swinging from his back - heading to the clubhouse.

On this day ten more moms and dads would be told in coming days that their precious son or daughter had died in battle, and countless hundreds of thousands of others were sick with a worry that it might be their own fate.

On this day 31 soldiers were wounded in Iraq and five more had died, Boy Scouts, Vietnam Veterans, their families and friends, spent more than eleven hours, meticulously measuring and calculating a perfect grid across the rolling front lawn of the Oasis County Club, then placed more than 3,000 white handcrafted crosses in perfect alignment. They were preparing the entrance to the country club, in anticipation of Keith and Carolyn Maupin's visit on Wednesday night to attend the "Let Us Never Forget" Scholarship Fundraiser. A few of the workers paused to watch their work and their soldiers being disrespected by the thoughtless golfer, but with tired backs and emotions spent, had no energy left to react – they had wheelbarrows full of crosses to plant into the ground before dark. Other volunteers tied large yellow bows to everything in sight.

The fundraiser is sponsored by the Yellow Ribbon Support Center, headed by the Maupins, and is expected to raise more than $100,000.00 that will be sent to all fifty states to high schools where local scholarships will be awarded in the name of a local soldier.

Regina Herbolt from Batavia, said that most of boys from Pack Troop 452 and Scout Troop 170 from Hyde Park's St. Mary Church had prior commitments, either spelunking or rowing, thus the parents took on this job Sunday for their sons. Herbolt's son Robbie was there however, as he is especially dedicated to the display of crosses. She said that Robbie had taken notice when the death count for the wars had reached 1,000 and wanted his troop do something to honor them. They contacted Clermont County Chapter 649 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, who had erected crosses at Union Township's Veterans Memorial Park, and named it the Flags of Honor Tribute. With the help of the Vietnam Veterans, proceeds from selling popcorn, generous help from adults who knew woodworking, and a discount from a Lowe's improvement store, more than 3,000 crosses have been carefully screwed together and painted. The volunteers had cans of white spray paint on hand to do touch-ups, and there were black crosses to honor the still missing in action. Regina had photos with names that will be placed on crosses for  the 166 Ohio soldiers and marines who have died.

Robbie and Regina made daily trips to the makeshift cemetery at Union Township whenever they learned about another death. Regina said that Robbie would often wear his scout uniform and handle the crosses reverently, wearing white gloves, and saluting after he placed each flag. The flags placed Sunday at the Oasis were not saluted, however, they were placed and straightened reverently by the volunteers seemingly in a constant state of prayer. Heavy on everyone's mind was the recent news that the remains of missing soldier Matt Maupin had been found in Iraq.

Regina and Robby have become close friends of Keith and Carolyn Maupin, and Regina had just taken Keith to Dillards on Saturday to buy a new suit for the funeral. She said that Keith wanted a gray suit, but his family tired to talk him out of it, feeling it would be “too much gray” given his unshaved face of full gray beard. Keith decided years ago to not shave until his son returned. She said Keith compromised by getting a “dark” gray suit. The scholarship dinner on Wednesday comes a few weeks before the 20-year-old Matt is returned home to Clermont County, and a planned memorial and funeral service. There will be a visitation on April 26 at the Union Township Civic Center that will be open for 24 hours. April 27 is the tentative date for a funeral service planned for Paul Brown Stadium or the Great American Ball Park. Regina Herbolt said on Sunday that arrangements are also being pursued that would allow President Bush to attend.

Matt played football and graduated from Glen Este High School in 2001, and attended the University of Cincinnati before joining the Army Reserve. A fuel convoy he was protecting was ambushed in 2004 and he had been listed as “missing/captured” until DNA tests confirmed his identity two weeks ago after the military found remains about twelve miles from where the attack occurred. The last time the Maupins saw their son alive was when militants in Iraq videotaped him in a crouching position on the floor surrounded by five masked cowards holding automatic rifles. Maupin was serving with the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, and stationed near Baghdad.

Regina Herbolt said that her son had once been asked whether he was erecting the crosses for Matt Maupin. He answered the question by saying, “No, this is for the soldiers who have died, Matt is coming home some day.” Regina said that her son is doing “pretty well” after hearing the bad news last Sunday about Matt Maupin. She described her son as quiet, mature, and strong, her eyes welled and glistened as she talked with pride about what he and the other scouts have done, and the dignitaries Robbie has met who congratulated him for organizing the display to honor the fallen soldiers. Robby was once in an end-of-the-year edition of Time Magazine with the “feature” photo of him in uniform, white gloves, and saluting a cross he had planted.

Dexter Thornberry, a Vietnam Veteran from Brown County seemed to be the chief adult engineer on Sunday, and the go-to-person with the tape measure and math skills - plotting how the crosses would be viewed in straight lines as the Maupins entered the Oasis on Wednesday night. It was challenging, running string lines over the mounds of the rolling landscape, and at one point a few hundred had to be moved over a couple inches when someone, checking the vantage point from the countryclub entrance, noticed that they were, “Just a little off.” Thornberry started recalculating, grateful for the chance to get it right.

Thornberry is a member of Vietnam Veterans of America, Clermont County Chapter 649, the group that helped the scouts complete their dream of honoring the fallen soldiers. Thornberry served at Pleiku in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in a helicopter unit in the late '60's. Thornberry has gone through a recent tragedy of his own, after his house burned. He said he has good insurance and drywall is now being installed, so he was where he needed to be Sunday and was still there late into the afternoon, planting crosses and flags. Thornberry has an easy going style that is of a natural leader, quietly giving instructions and listening to suggestions from the boys.

I let Dexter tell me about his service in Vietnam for several minutes, trying to hide the growing grin on my face, and only when he got uncomfortable with my reaction did I tell him that my grin was because we served out of the same base in Vietnam, and at the same time. As soon as I told him I was a Viet Vet – he stuck ouy his hand to me and said, “Welcome home.” I returned the sentiment, however, we both then got a little uncomfortable knowing what brought us both to this place on Sunday. He invited me to one of the Vet's meetings, “No pressure to join or anything.” I told him that the only organization I joined since Vietnam was a church, and he said, “Well I didn't exactly join the Army - they joined me.” I told him I know what being drafted felt like. We reminisced a while longer, before I felt guilty that I was keeping him from his current stateside duties at the Oasis, and thanked him for his time with me. Thornberry said that in recent years he had been able to go back to Vietnam to visit, but that was a discussion better left for another day.

"You're obsessed.”

“You need to get out of here."

These were instructions from co-workers in Ocean City Maryland to Rob Greenebaum. He said that his office manager told him about an Ohio Soldier who's remains had just been found after four years. Greenebaum said, “That night, it was amazing. I spent most of the night on my computer reading the condolences to the Maupin family left on the Yellow Ribbon Center web site” He said it was the stories from the “KIA mothers”  that touched him the most. Eyes tearing up,  Greenebaum said that he is an emotional person under normal circumstances, but in reading the messages, he realized Matt Maupin and he, were much alike. “He was a gym rat. He stuck up for others. I think of myself in those ways, and I work out lifting weights, like Matt did.” He said he was especially impacted by reading about the Sgt. Matt Maupin Internet Cafe and Sgt. Matt Maupin Computer Lab at Camp Anaconda in Iraq, which was made possible by the Maupin's donating 90 computers so soldiers could communicate with loved ones at home.

Greenebaum took the advice, of his co-workers and bought a plane ticket, ending at the Yellow Ribbon support Center volunteering to help, and at the Oasis planting white, handcrafted wooden crosses on Sunday. Pondering whether he could afford to take off work, he said to himself before leaving, “I can take Xanax, or I can go to Ohio to help the Maupins.”

To view more photos click here.

 

Cleveland boy stops runaway school bus

Some kids jumped out

CLEVELAND - The driver of a full school bus that rolled down a hill when he left the children to get fuel and use a gas station restroom was without a driver license for part of last year, court records show.

Michael Weir, 57, was in the restroom when the bus started to roll. As children screamed and some jumped out a side door and rolled into the street, a fast-acting 11-year-old boy grabbed the steering wheel Monday morning and veered the bus into a pillar, to stop it from careening out of control. Fifteen children suffered minor injuries.

Read on... Cleveland boy stops runaway school bus; some kids jumped out - Examiner.com.

Ohio to call expert witness Tuesday in lethal injection challenge

ELYRIA, Ohio (Map, News) - Ohio's execution method has been characterized as unfit for even household pets by an anesthesiologist testifying in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection process for putting prisoners to death.

Read on... Ohio to call expert witness Tuesday in lethal injection challenge - Examiner.com.

Governor Strickland Announces Nine Mortgage Loan Servicers Sign Compacts to Assist Ohioans in Avoiding Foreclosure