Bath Grapevine
by Jen Towell
Melissa Fashinpaur of Bath co-chaired the Akron Children’s Museum Grown-Up Play Date, “A Great Gatsby Affair,” on Sept. 8. She and co-chair Kristin Goff Durian took 300 guests back to the Roaring ’20s. The event featured a medley of Gatsby-inspired entertainment, including a live performance and interactive dance lesson by Get Hep Swing, casino tables, a glam station and dinner catered by City BBQ. Silent and live auctions offered over 50 items, including a Goodyear blimp ride and a one-week stay on Hilton Head Island. Fashinpaur and her husband Chris are Revere graduates and were joined by her parents, Stan and Linda Apple of Bath.
Ross Henschen and Sandi Kraus volunteered throughout the evening, helping guide guests through a silent DJ experience and a bourbon and champagne tasting station. Net proceeds benefitted the museum’s educational exhibits, STEM programming and facility expansion efforts. The museum aims to break ground on a 3,000-square-foot addition that will add several new STEM-themed exhibits in 2019.
Project Outrun threw its second annual “Greatest Shoeman” Carnival and Fundraiser on Aug. 18 at Springside Racquet & Fitness Club in Bath. The nonprofit was started by husband-and-wife Revere graduates Andy and Stefanie Shepperd. The event featured games, prizes and an appearance by Victory Gallop’s miniature horse, Willie Nelson.
Project Outrun recently visited Nike headquarters in Oregon and now partners with Nike to enable kids battling pediatric cancer to design custom shoes. Andy said the shoes empower pediatric cancer patients to outrun fear, sickness and doubt. The company’s hashtag is #imnotsickbutmyshoesare.
Project Outrun will debut a shoe available locally on Monday, Oct. 15. The shoes are designed by Kylie Rose Jacobs, who was the motivator behind Outrun’s first pair. Money raised from shoe sales will be used to continue Project Outrun and support Akron Children’s Hospital.
The Bath Volunteers for Service work hard throughout the year to provide grants and support for the community. Renee Zumpano said they also get together for social outings, where members enjoy each other’s company. This summer, about 18 members enjoyed dinner at Crave and visited Akron’s Nightlight Cinema to see the Fred Rogers documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” A few weeks later, Lori Masco hosted a game night with a back-to-school theme. Areas of study included math (Rummikub, Yahtzee and Farkle) and spelling (Boggle, Banagrams and Upwords). Masco provided lunchbox sandwiches and chocolate milk martinis.
Congratulations to Mackenzie Bowen, Revere class of 2014 and daughter of Patsy and David Bowen of Bath, who was recently engaged to Ross Downing in Otwock, Poland. Bowen and Downing graduated with music education degrees from Kent State University and were chosen to travel with professors to teach music to students at a three-week summer workshop in Otwock, just south of Warsaw. Downing received help from Otwock residents and surprised Bowen by proposing in front of a church. After she accepted his proposal, he put the engagement ring on her finger, and church bells rang as if on cue.
The Polish staff the couple worked with surprised them a few days later with a mock Polish wedding, complete with a veil, flowers, a bow tie for Ross, dancing, cake and traditional gifts, including a handmade doily from a staff member’s grandmother.
Congratulations to Bath resident and local businessman Ted Bare, who finished his degree at Kent State after starting it over 47 years ago. Bare turned 70 this year and decided it was time to go back and finish one final class to secure his diploma. Kent State worked with Bare to create a specialized course since his college credits were so outdated.
When he left school, Bare had 216 credit hours; students only needed 192 to graduate. But a required writing class precluded him from graduating. His final course of study was writing a paper he titled “The Urbanization of Ted Bare,” about growing up in a culturally isolated neighborhood and eventually establishing and running businesses in diverse parts of the city and state. Ted and his wife Linda, a teacher at Revere, raised their two children in Bath and still live in the township.
David Gifford of Bath recently joined the Up Side of Downs of Northeast Ohio Board of Directors. On Aug. 25, USOD hosted its annual Buddy Walk at the Cleveland Zoo. Bath residents in attendance were Gifford, his wife Jill and daughter Emily; Betsy and David Doran and their children Maggie and Michael; Amy Barker and her children Harry and Madeline; and me, my husband Tom, and our children Tommy, Joey and Lucy.
The Revere Rockstars team was there in full force, captained by Julie Gulley, principal at Richfield Elementary School. She formed the team to support the three students with Down syndrome at the school. Other Revere employees on the team included Melanie Burkhart, Lori Bell, Abby and Lucy Kassel, Piper Short and Jessica Gahan. They even brought faux guitars and team sunglasses.
Revere students Katie Froelich, Audrey Halvorson, Natalie Nonno, Lilly and Molly Oldham, Becca Schmidt and Julia Scott volunteered at the walk through the entertainment company Part of Their World. They dressed up as princesses and took song requests, posed for photos, held hands and gave hugs to children. Although the characters are often paid for appearances, according to Bunny Oldham, Bath resident and unofficial photographer of the group, they shine most at the events where they volunteer.
The North Fork and Rambling Way Homeowners celebrated summer at their annual neighborhood soiree. Residents Bart DiLiddo, Richard Gargano, Barry and Laurel Greenberg, Collier Jarboe, Rick Krochka, Steve Schmidt, Alison and Claude Vincenti, Marilyn Wilson and Ed and Maryann Zielinski joined us at our home for the party.
Wilson is preparing for a humanitarian trip to Thailand this fall to help the Youth Charity Foundation House of Hope and Grace. The foundation was started in 1996 to help children who have lost parents to addiction and HIV. The 40-plus children living there are given shelter and refuge from their troubled backgrounds. The foundation also provides them with a private education. To learn more, visit ycfthailand.com.
Akron attorney and Bath resident William Dowling received the 2018 John and Ginny Elam Pro Bono Award, which recognizes an Ohio lawyer’s pro bono legal work. Dowling won for creating and sustaining the VALID program, a free monthly clinic that helps low-income Akron-area residents navigate the driver’s license reinstatement process. Dowling earned his law degree from Yale University and his undergraduate and master’s degrees from Ohio State University. He is a former president of the Akron Bar Association.
Dowling and his wife Lynn live in Bath and have two daughters and four grandsons. In August, they traveled to New York City to enjoy the U.S. Open Tennis Championships with friends Della and Phil Michalos. The couples have traveled to the Open many times over the years.
Our family also attended the U.S. Open over Labor Day weekend with the Buddy Up Tennis, Inc. program, an adaptive tennis program for individuals with Down syndrome. I started the local chapter five years ago, first at Towpath Tennis Center and now at Springside Racquet & Fitness Club. The program involves 30 minutes of fitness and an hour-long adaptive tennis clinic. Athletes (individuals who have Down syndrome) pay $15 per clinic, and we recruit volunteers who serve as “buddies.”
This year, coordinators with children in the program were invited to attend the Open, so Tom and I drove our three children to New York for the weekend. On Friday, we attended a meeting with the founders of Buddy Up (which started in Columbus). We were surprised by a video featuring Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Madison Keys, who welcomed Buddy Up to the Open and announced that our athletes would perform an exhibition on Arthur Ashe Stadium’s center court.
The following morning, after we watched Federer’s courtside warmup, Buddy Up athletes took their spots on the court and did a 15-minute exhibit and demonstration of the skills they learn at their clinics. They were featured on the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and the Today Show. If you happened to catch the news coverage, you may have seen our son Joey running out onto center court.
It has been a thrill to learn about the great residents of Bath and their wonderful work in the community. Thank you to everyone who sends in news and tidbits. Continue to email me at jtowell@scriptype.com with your good news and good deeds.