READERS ON VACATION B1
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Your Community Press newspaper serving Delhi Township and Sayler Park
Email: delhipress@communitypress.com Website: communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, S e p t e m b e r 2 8 , 2 0 1 1
Volume 84 Number 40 © 2011 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Gaining confidence
Seton played Mercy in volleyball, and while the Saints lost in five games, coach Beth Sander is instilling confidence into her team. – SEE STORY, A7
Halloween fright
Delhi will open its dungeons again this year for Halloween. The township’s Explorer Post will open its haunted house at the former Thriftway, as it has for the past 19 years. – SEE STORY, A3
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Police OK no-raise contract
By Heidi Fallon
hfallon@communitypress.com
Delhi Township police officers have agreed to a two-year extension of their current wage and benefits contract, which includes no raises. Finalized recently, the contract was a unanimous decision by the department’s two Delhi Township Police Association bargaining units. Sgt. James Wergers, who represented his group, said one unit is for patrol officers and the second for sergeants and corporals. He said accepting no raises for the next two years was “a no-brainer.” “If we had asked for raises, it would have put the department in a deficit situation,” Wergers said.
Sgt. Joe Middendorf, also a union representative, said the police bargaining units and township’s negotiators also saved money by not having a lengthy round of contract talks. “Everyone saved money in attorney fees,” he said. The last police contract that included 3 percent across the board raises was in 2008, Middendorf said. Along with not getting salary increases, everyone in the department is paying more for out-of-pocket health care costs and has a new and higher $5,000 deductible. Police Chief James Howarth said he is saving an estimated $200,000 a year just in salary increases. “That amounts to almost a quarter million
dollars when you add in the benefits, workers compensation and pension costs that are all based on salaries,” Howarth said. The starting salary for a police officer is $53,000 and the base salaries for corporals and sergeants are $59,096 and $73,000 respectively. Wergers said most of the 29 officers have a personal stake in keeping the department solvent. “The majority of us live in Delhi Township and we want, like all residents, to have a safe community,” Wergers said. “We want to keep our current staffing levels and not have a budget deficit.” For more about your community, visit www.cincinnati.com/delhitownship.
Sayler Park to celebrate past, present By Heidi Fallon hfallon@communitypress.com
Sayler Park is celebrating its past and present with a weekend of fun Oct. 7-8. The village council has a centennial celebration neighborhood parade starting at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7. The parade begins at the recreation center, 6720 Home City Ave., and continues west, turning left onto Cherokee Drive to Parkland Avenue to the Nelson Sayler Town Square Park, between Parkland Avenue and Gracely Drive. The parade ends with a 21-gun salute and the raising of a new American flag at the flagpole. Children are encouraged to participate, and neighborhood groups and businesses are welcome to participate. It’s a walking or bike-riding parade only with no motorized vehicles permitted. “This will be a truly old-fashioned neighborhood parade,” said Amy Searcy, Sayler Park resident helping organize the two days of events. “Children can receive supplies and assistance decorating their bikes beginning at 5 p.m. at the recreation center.” There will be no parking along the parade routed from 5-7 p.m. Barricades will halt traffic and the parade route will be monitored by the Citizens on Patrol from West Price Hill and Westwood.
HEIDI FALLON/COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF
Don Minges was among the local farmers who brought produce from his Colerain Township farm to last year’s Sayler Park Harvest Festival . On Saturday, Oct. 8, the town square park will be filled with musicians, vendors and displays for the annual Harvest Festival, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.. Local musicians, including The Tillers and entheos, will be playing all day. Dennis Betz Music Shop also will provide local talent. Pumpkins, mums, food, and an array of art work and crafts will be spread across the park with more
than 50 vendors. “The Harvest Festival has become a tradition in Sayler Park every year on the second Saturday in October,” Searcy said. It is a wonderful opportunity to visit with old friends and neighbors, and make new friends.” She said a book on Sayler Park, “‘Sayler Park: Stories That Must be Told,” will be sold at the festival. “This year Sayler Park is proud
to introduce a book that has been in the making for three years,” she said. “Over 75 local Sayler Park neighbors have told their stories of life in the river town of Sayler Park before 1960. Four local women have recorded and written and edited those stories and now their book is ready for everyone to enjoy.” For more about your community, visit www.cincinnati.com/saylerpark.
West Side band tuning up for fundraiser By Heidi Fallon hfallon@communitypress.com
It’s a party with a purpose. More than 100 local charities will benefit from this year’s Rusty Ball on Friday, Oct. 22, at the Duke Energy Convention Center. It’s the fourth year the West Side band The Rusty Griswolds have taken to the stage to raise money for nonprofit groups like the Riverview-Delhi Hills Kiwanis Club and St. Williams’ autism program. Joseph Jones, a Delhi Township resident, is working behind the scenes to help the band. “I went to high school with Steve Frisch back when his band was the Free Reins,” Jones said. “We’ve been friends ever since. “We wanted to have some sort of organization that would help provide assistance to people and groups right here.” After lots of conversations, the Spirit of Cincinnatus was launched as that nonprofit charitable organization. “We picked Cincinnatus as our icon of sorts because he is such an heroic figure and, I
This year, 119 charities will split the proceeds with their share determined by the percentage of ticket sales. think, a figure the city doesn’t utilize enough.” Jones said the idea for the Rusty Ball was prompted by the numerous requests the band received to perform for fundraisers. “There were so many, they couldn’t do them all, so we decided to have one really big concert to benefit as many organizations as possible,” Jones said. To date, Jones calculates the one-night concert has raised almost $600,000. The first year, he said, raised $87,000 for 52 charities. Last year, the sold-out event raised $302,000. This year, 119 charities will split the pro-
See RUSTY BALL on page A2
HEIDI FALLON/STAFF
Joseph Jones looks over the information he’s compiling as one of the organizers of the Oct. 22 Rusty Ball charity event. The Delhi Township man has been involved with the event the past few years, helping raise money for a variety of local organizations.