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Volume 55, No. 24
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
‘Our Life was Just One Bowl of Cherries’ Chester Historical Village Keeper of the Cane Accepts Honor in Husband’s Memory By Amy Patterson amy@karlovecmedia.com
When 97-year-old Chester Township resident Dorothy Herrick was honored April 14 as the Chesterland Historical Village “Keeper of the Cane” for her decades of support, she had one caveat — to share the privilege with her late husband, Tom. Because she hadn’t been to a CHV board meeting since he died in 2016, Dorothy said at first, she was reluctant to accept the honor. “I finally decided that, well, since I couldn't have but one name on the cane, and there wasn't room for Tom's name, I would take it with his memory,” she told a crowd of friends and family in the historic town hall. “Everything we did at the historical (village) for almost 40 or 50 years, we did as a team,” Dorothy said of her husband. “Everything we did in life. I mean, we started going steady when we were 15 and our life was just one bowl of cherries. It was just fabulous.” According CHV’s March 2024
newsletter, Dorothy and Tom met at Shore High School in Euclid where, in ninth grade, she spotted him from a distance. The two shared everything, including the same birthday in 1926, and married after he returned from fighting in World War II. Judith Schwed, former CHV president, presented Dorothy with a cane embossed with names of previous Keepers, as well as their birth and death dates. Previous Keeper of the Cane, Roy Ditto, was awarded the honor in 2014 at the age of 93. Schwed led the event with a retelling of the history of the cane, which was first presented in 1927 to Sipha Patterson, then the oldest resident in Chester Township, by her grandnieces. “So, her grandnieces decided to have a party for her, and at that party, they presented her with . . . this cane that we're also going to present to Dorothy because that cane has been passed on over all these years,” Schwed said. The cane is passed not to the oldest resident of the township, but to the eldest, she clarified. Dorothy is the 23rd elder to be chosen as “Keeper of the Cane.” In order to be eligible, an elder must be at least 85 years of age and
Former West Geauga football coach Lou Cirino has been charged with two felonies after being investigated for inappropriate relationships he had while employed at West Geauga High School, according to a Geauga County Grand Jury indictment. Cirino was arrested by Chester Township police and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office April 12 and remained in jail until his first court appearance April 15 at Geauga County Common Pleas Court in front Judge Carolyn Paschke. Appearing via video, Cirino, 40, a 2002 West Geauga graduate whose address changed from Columbia Station to Warwick Lane in Chester, pleaded not guilty and
posted his 10 percent of $10,000 cash or surety bond. The indictment states Cirino engaged in sexual conduct with a student during his time as a West Geauga teacher and coach between 2009 and 2010, which is sexual battery. It also states Cirino had sexual contact with someone under 13 years old between 2004 and 2005, which is Cirino gross sexual imposition. The victim was the same in both charges, said Chester Township Police Chief Craig T. Young. “After an exhaustive investigation by our detective bureau, we were able to get here,” Young said. Cirino’s lawyer, Joseph R. Klammer of Mentor, said in an email:
MAY 2024
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Chester resident Dorothy Herrick, 97, was honored April 14 as the Chesterland Historical Village “Keeper of the Cane,” in honor of decades supporing the village.
a township resident for at least 25 years, Schwed said. Dorothy, who moved to Chester from South Euclid in 1970, said she was “more or less pushed” into attending her first CHV meeting by a friend. “I went to this (CHV) meeting because (my friend) called and she
said, ‘You have to join because I sent your membership in,’” Dorothy said. "I went to this meeting and this little lady got up and she said to the committee that was there, 'Isn't there somebody that can take a project and see it from beginning to end?'" See Cane• Page 3
Cirino Charged with Sex Crimes While at West Geauga By Jamie Ward jamie@karlovecmedia.com
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“These allegations are from nearly 20 years ago. Imagine if you were left to defend allegations from decades ago. Fortunately he has the support of a big loving family — the entire family is prepared to defend the charges.” Both charges label Cirino “a sexually violent predator.” Both are third-degree felonies. “Chester police did a great job,” Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said. Strongsville Schools placed Cirino on administrative leave when the investigation began in December. Cirino has been a government teacher at Strongsville High School since 2017. After the Strongsville Schools Board of Education took heat from
parents for firing him as head football coach that December, officials confirmed that a woman from Cirino’s past at West Geauga wrote an email which was referred to the Strongsville Police Department. It was then referred to Geauga County. “Strongsville police received an allegation against Mr. Cirino that was forwarded to the Chester Police Department since it allegedly occurred when he was employed by West Geauga Schools. Chester police are investigating the matter,” Flaiz wrote in an email in December. “On Dec. 10, the Chester Township Police Department was made aware of an allegation that a former staff member of West Geauga High School had an inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old student during the 2007-2008 school year,” See Cirino• Page 7
Listed are public meetings and executive sessions for the month of May, unless otherwise noted. These meeting notices are NOT legal notices. Chester Township: May 1, 7 p.m., Zoning Commission; May 2, 6:30 p.m., Board of Trustees; May 13, 7 p.m., Board of Zoning Appeals; May 15, 7 p.m., Zoning Commission; May 16, 6:30 p.m., Board of Trustees; May 30, 6:30 p.m., Board of Trustees. All meetings are held at the Township Hall, 12701 Chillicothe Road, unless otherwise noted. Russell Township: May 2, 2 p.m., Board of Trustees; May 6, 7 p.m., Board of Zoning Appeals; May 15, 4 p.m., Citizens’ Park District; May 16, 7 p.m., Board of Trustees; May 22, 7 p.m., Zoning Commission. All meetings are held at Russell Town Hall, 14890 Chillicothe Road, unless otherwise noted. West Geauga BOE: May 20, 7 p.m., regular meeting. All meetings are held at the BOE Community Room, 8615 Cedar Road, unless otherwise noted.
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