POST Wednesday, January 21, 2026 • Vol. 18 No. 17 • FREE
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Community News from Middlefield, Parkman, Huntsburg and Surrounding Areas
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Middlef ield Cardinal School Board OK’s Certified Staff to Carry Guns on Campus By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com In a 4-1 vote, Cardinal Schools Board of Education passed a resolution Jan. 14 allowing two qualified employees to carry firearms on campus, said board President Linda Smallwood in a Jan. 16 phone interview. The employees will not be identified for security reasons, Smallwood said. Both have completed required training and have been certified to carry weapons on school property during regular school hours, athletic events and other school activi-
ties, she said. The decision followed the loss of the district’s school resource officer, who had been assigned through the Middlefield Village Police Department but was no longer funded by a grant, Smallwood said. “(The officer) was wonderful,” Smallwood said, adding the absence of an SRO had been felt in the district. Although there have been no threats or incidents of violence, she said parents have expressed concern about not having an officer immediately available. During the Oct. 22, 2025, regular meeting, members entered ex-
ecutive session for security reasons and consulted with the district’s attorney about allowing qualified employees to carry firearms in place of an SRO, Smallwood said. Since that discussion, two employees completed state-required training and all necessary paperwork, she said. The board held another executive session during the Jan. 14 meeting because one board member had been absent during the earlier discussion and newly elected board member Edna Phile, who was sworn in that evening, needed to be briefed on the issue, Smallwood said.
Board members Phile, Smallwood, Barb Rayburn and Ruth Natali voted in favor of the resolution. Anita Marlowe voted against it, though she acknowledged other school districts are adopting similar security measures. “I voted against it out of a personal conviction. I don’t think there is a place in the school for guns,” she said in a Jan. 18 interview. She said she believes it could be difficult for an employee to balance educational and security roles and that it presents a potential safety risk. “I also feel it could increase See Guns • Page 2
Maple Syrup Pours Out Sweet Success Expert Cautiously Optimistic About Upcoming Season By Brandon Lichtinger editor@karlovecmedia.com As prime maple-sugaring season approaches, local producer Aggy Sperry recently reflected on bringing home two international awards last fall for syrup she makes with the Gingerich family under Gingerich Brothers and Sperry LLC. At the North American Maple Syrup Council and International Maple Syrup Institute meeting in Port Huron, Michigan, from Oct. 22-25, Sperry’s medium amber and very dark syrups each earned firstplace prizes. Sojka-Sperry’s syrup has garnered nearly 30 awards over the last 25 years. For Sperry, the craft of making maple syrup — and the community that surrounds it — sweetens every aspect of life. “I love everything about it (maple syrup making and culture),” she said in a recent interview. Sperry’s maple-syrup journey began in childhood, after her family moved from Richmond Heights to Chester Township. One of eight children, she and her siblings helped local farmers after school at one of the five sugarhouses within walking distance of
PHOTO COURTESY OF AGGY SPERRY
The Gingerich Brothers and Sperry LLC sugarhouse in Middlefield, birthplace of award-winning Geauga County maple syrup.
their home. Her involvement deepened as a young adult when she met her future husband. Mark Sperry, then an attorney, worked on Main Street in Chardon and would stop in to talk maple syrup with Aggy — then Aggy Sojka — at the building she owned on Chardon Square. They eventually started dating and Sperry surprised her with a visit to his family’s sugarhouse in Middlefield on their second date. See Aggy • Page 2
BRANDON LICHTINGER/ KMG
Aggie Sperry has been a sugar maker in Geauga County for the past 50 years, a tradition she says represents the best of life in the region.
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