Leaf Thursday, May 29, 2025 Vol. 31 No. 21 • Chardon, Ohio www.geaugamapleleaf.com $1.25
‘Morale is Improving’ Troy Fire Chief Holds Open House to Help Bridge Gaps By Emma MacNiven macniven@karlovecmedia.com
ANN WISHART/KMG
Trustee Joyce Peters shares the history of the original Parkman School bell, which now hangs in the gazebo at the township park after its dedication Memorial Day.
Parkman Dedicates School Bell On Memorial Day
Troy Township Fire Chief Jim Nix believes the department’s May 10 open house successfully strengthened the bond between residents and the people who protect them. “I thought it was just a huge success, a great outpouring from the people and residents in Troy,” Nix said at the May 20 Troy Township Trustees meeting. Twenty-two members of the fire department came and there was a good turn out from the community, he said. “The morale is improving, it was wonderful,” he said. Nix also wanted residents to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the department. “(The goal) was to allow the residents and the businesses to come and meet their firefight-
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Members of the community gather to learn more about the Troy Township Fire Department at the department’s open house May 10.
er-EMTs, see the stations, see where we work and see the equipment that we use to help them and service them and protect them,” he said in a May 21 interview. During the open house, Nix used a fog machine and mannequin to illustrate the limited eye-
sight firefighters have when entering homes filled with smoke, even on bright, sunny days. “That was an eye-awakening moment for a lot of them, to see the conditions of which sometimes See Troy • Page 3
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ACLU Sues Geauga County Sheriff Over Withheld ICE Contract Records page 4
West Geauga BOE Approves $16M For School Repairs page 5
‘First Family of Burton’ Painting Hung at Century Village page 10
Opinion
By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com Memorial Day in Parkman Township was not only a day to remember and honor military members who died while serving their country, but also a day to share memories and a little history among residents, new and old. Illustrating more than a century of that history was the dedication of a huge iron school bell mounted on the gazebo on the township square. Many residents gathered to listen to Parkman Township Trustee Joyce Peters as she related the events leading up to the recovery of the bell, which summoned children to Parkman School from 1883 to 1952, when the building was demolished and the new school was built. “At that time, Concezio ‘Connie’ Testa, who was the custodian of the Parkman School for many See Bell • Page 3
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Chardon holds two events to honor fallen soldiers Memorial Day. Military veterans lay a wreath at the memorial in front of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas at 10 a.m., before holding a longer ceremony at Chardon Municipal Cemetery, which included the Chardon High School Marching Band playing, a local Girl Scout troop laying a wreath, and retired Lt. Col. Steve Oluic reading the Gettysburg Address. “It’s especially great to see the young people here because they’re the ones that have to remember,” Oluic said.