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LORAIN COUNTY
AMHERST NEWS-TIMES • OBERLIN NEWS-TRIBUNE • WELLINGTON ENTERPRISE Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023
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Volume 10, Issue 2
‘Santas’ pay off $4,200 in cafeteria bills JASON HAWK EDITOR
WELLINGTON — The new year has started with clean slates for Wellington Schools families, whose breakfast and lunch bills have been paid off by donors. About $4,200 in combined meal debt was zeroed out for 215 students, district Treasurer Mark
Donnelly said. “People in this community are always surprising me with their generosity,” he said. Andrea Helton, who runs the Wellington Schools’ cafeterias, launched a “Christmas campaign” in December on the district’s social media accounts. The gifts poured in — and then some. Donnelly said the full amount received to date is
$6,619, with pledges for more. Valley Chevrolet, located on Route 18 near the Lorain County Fairgrounds, fronted $4,119 to pay off negative balances. Owner Brian O’Donnell has a heart for helping children, according to Tracie Fahler, controller for the dealership. He is “focused on the kids, and that’s why we land toward helping schools and food banks” with
charitable giving, she said. Wellington Superintendent Ed Weber said Valley Chevrolet has been making donations to the Board of Education for months, helping cover activity costs and other odds-and-ends expenses. “They said, ‘Let us know what is needed. We’ll make sure all of this gets paid,’ and they did,” Weber said. “How wonderful.” The start of 2023 marks the
EMA: Close schools for eclipse JASON HAWK EDITOR
Trying to hammer out the calendar for next school year, one specific date has vexed Wellington Superintendent Ed Weber — April 8, 2024. That’s the day a total solar eclipse is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to Lorain County, roughly tripling its population. Busing could be a nightmare that afternoon, due to predictions of clogged roads, Weber told the Wellington Board of Education in a meeting last week. To head off that problem, the Lorain County Emergency Management Agency is recommending all area schools close the day of the eclipse. “You don’t want children stranded on a school bus because the bus can’t get through,” said EMA Director Jessica Fetter in an interview. During the “Great American Blackout” of 2017, students were stranded in buses for hours as traffic came to a standstill in Tennessee, Kentucky and other states that attracted eclipse-seekers, she said. Fetter said she plans to
CAFETERIA PAGE A3
NAACP installs officers
Courtesy of GreatAmericanEclipse.com
This image shows the staggering number of Americans who live directly in the path of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse that will move across the United States from Texas to New Hampshire. work with the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Turnpike Commission to make sure those problems don’t happen here on April 8, 2024. Keeping highways open to emergency vehicles is a top priority, she said — but cities and towns are likely to have similar headaches. Take Avon Lake — the Ohio
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first time a new calendar year has started with every outstanding cafeteria balance paid in full, he said in a letter to Wellington families. Other donations came from the Drew Guyer Memorial Foundation, Wellington Eagles, First United Methodist Church, Wellington Women’s League, Weber,
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Emergency Management Agency has pinpointed it as the top spot in the state likely to draw tourists, because it’s the point in Ohio where the eclipse will be visible for the longest duration. An interactive map on the Ohio EMA’s website already recommends public parks for viewing the eclipse. Avon Lake’s Blesser Field, Inwood
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ECLIPSE PAGE A2
Ross gives $4M to fair JASON HAWK EDITOR
WELLINGTON — A $4 million donation from the Ross Foundation puts the Lorain County Fair a huge stride closer to covering the cost of its new exposition center and equestrian arena. The gift was announced Monday. In return, the foundation will get naming rights to the new facility, said fair board President Rick Ternes. “They stepped up,” he said.
“They came to us shortly after the (2022) fair and said, ‘Hey, we want to be part of this project.’ Through several meetings, they said the foundation could do this.” Last year, the fair board announced it would pursue a $12 million “Fairs Forever” plan to transform its Wellington grounds over the next few years. The first step is to build an exposition center that can be used year-round, generating revenue by hosting shows, conferences FAIR PAGE A2
Jeff Barnes | Community Guide
President Ardelia R. (Dee) Tolbert of the Metro Central Ohio Branch of the NAACP, delivers closing remarks during a ceremony Saturday at Unity Baptist Church in Elyria, where new officers were installed.
“The ceremony was off-the-hook fantastic,” President Dee Tolbert said. “I am so excited and ready to tackle 2023 with these wonderful people.” Serving with her during the coming two years are: • Rev. Calvin Currie, second vice president • Claudia Jones, first vice president • Deb Cocco, executive committee • LaTaunya Connelly, secretary • Ruth Smith, assistant secretary • Gregory Fluker, executive committee • Brenda Davis, treasurer • Joanne Fitzpatrick, assistant treasurer • Erica Jackson, executive committee • Jonette Jackson, executive committee • Jean Armstrong, executive committee • Mona Atley, executive committee • Regina Shockley, executive committee • Janice Williams, executive committee • Laleisee Curtis, executive committee • Ray English, executive committee • David Hall, executive committee • Loretta Jones, executive committee The Metro Central Ohio branch was formed when Oberlin and Elyria NAACP units merged in 2022.
INSIDE THIS WEEK
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Park and Belle Road Park as well as the Avon Lake Reservation Metro Park as potential destinations. Bob Scott, superintendent of the Avon Lake Schools, said his district has already decided to give students the day off. “It’s going to be an event,”
County
Oberlin
Wellington
Commissioners recsind radio contract • A5
Council eyes $100,000 for nonprofit’s new HQ • B1
Council talks substation security measures • B1
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • BULLETIN BOARD A6 • PUZZLES B2 • KID SCOOP B6