HANDS OF STONE B1
LOVELAND HERALD
Kindergarten students and their family members enjoyed “stone soup” at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School. Teacher Rosanne Fels said this year’s event was the 26th annual “stone soup” celebration at the school.
Primary letters Want to make your opinion known about a candidate or issue on the March 6 ballot? Start writing. The deadline for electionsrelated letters to the editor and guest columns is noon Friday, Feb. 17. Letters should be 200 words or fewer; guest columns should be 500 words or fewer, and include a color head shot and short bio of the author. Candidates and groups supporting or opposing ballot issues are limited to one column before the election. We reserve the right to edit all columns and letters. We will print as many as we can. All letters and columns will be posted online at Cincinnati.com. E-mail letters or columns to loveland@communitypress.com, or rmaloney@communitypress.com.
The artsy types Fifty-one individual awards and one portfolio award have been won by Ursuline Academy students in the The Scholastic Art Awards, making this the best showing at Scholastics in recent years at UA. See Schools, A5
Son and stars More than 30 family, friends and fans gathered together at Tano’s Bistro in Loveland to watch Beau Cybulski’s TV debut on “CSI: Miami” Sunday, Jan. 29. See Story, photos, B3
Your Community Press newspaper serving Loveland, Miami Township, Symmes Township
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2012
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
'Legacy of love’ from Valentine Ladies They still wear the red coat proudly By Chuck Gibson loveland@communitypress.com
Love is all around as Valentine’s Day is upon us once again. This year, as every year, Loveland celebrates the holiday of love in grand style with the Loveland Valentine card art, poetry contests, a heart decorating contest, and the grandest tradition of all; naming the Loveland Valentine Lady for 2012. The tradition of honoring a local woman as Valentine Lady was the brainchild of former mayor Roland Boike. In 1989 Pat Randolph was chosen as the first to represent Loveland as Valentine Lady. The idea stuck. This year marks the 24th consecutive year the city has bestowed the title of Valentine Lady on an outstanding woman in the community. The selection process starts with nomination letters – usually from a community organization. A committee made up of the past Valentine Ladies and representatives of the city, post office, schools, Kroger and banks review the nominees and vote for their favorite. The 2012 Valentine Lady is Jan Ranard, owner of Pizazz in Loveland and a three-time cancer survivor. She said being chosen as Loveland’s Valentine Lady: “is humbling because all the women are so gracious. It is truly an honor.” During the year, the Valentine Lady and past Valentine ladies play the role of ambassador for the city. They attend several events, visit nursing homes and visit children in the classrooms at local schools to spread the love of Loveland. They display a genuine enthusiasm for the responsibility. When eight of them gathered to select this year’s winners of the Valentine Poetry contest, they shared favorite memories
Some of the Loveland Valentine ladies take time out to talk about their experience as Valentine Lady. From left: seated, Margaret Kieffer (1994), Doris Osborne (1992) and Bonnie Larson (2010); standing: Kay Napier (2008), Pat Furterer (2002), Linda Cox (2009), Sue Newburger (2007) and Lu Boike (2005). CHUCK GIBSON/FOR THE COMMUNITY PRESS of their experience and what it means to be selected. Here’s what they said: Doris Osborne (1992): “I was highly honored. First off I wanted to know who nominated me. The Stage Company did; which I thought was very nice. I was surprised and pleased. I asked: ‘Well what do I have to do?’ We went around to all the schools. We went to the kids and had them hug us. They took your autograph. It was fun.” Margaret Kiefer (1994): “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s getting kind of hectic anymore. We have more to do now then we used to. When we first started, we were there Valentine’s Day and that was sort of it. Over the years it has progressed. We go to lots of different events to represent the city. Getting together with the group is my favorite part. It’s a friendly group and I enjoy it.” Pat Furterer (2002): “Some of the teachers, over in the Early Childhood Learning Center have rockers you can sit in and read to the kids. The little children; sitting in the rocking
chair, talking to them and reading to them. They really enjoy the attention. I loved having a little kid on my lap again. I enjoyed that very much. They love you to hug them and I like that too. That’s fun. I think Fred (her late husband) enjoyed me being Valentine Lady too. He sent word out to a lot of our friends back east and Florida.” Lu Boike (2005): “My husband, Roland Boike, was the one who started the Loveland Valentine program. I’m very proud to be a part of that. I enjoyed going to the classroom and speaking to the children. I shared a little love story with the boys and girls. A lot of them colored them and gave them to me. I have them at home…kept all these years. They’re beautiful. A lot of love was expressed. It was just a fun time for me. The children were very interested in what a Valentine Lady does.” Sue Newburger (2007): “One of my customers wrote a
See page A2 for additional information
Vol. 93 No. 49 © 2012 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
One Symmes Township park will continue to only see pickup baseball games on its field. About 70 residents of neighborhoods surrounding Hopewell Meadows Park, 9131 Hopewell Road, gathered Jan. 31 to express their opposition to allowing organized sports at the park. Bob Dehume, who started the Cincinnati Riverhawks Baseball Inc., requested to use Hopewell’s baseball fields as his 12and 14-year-olds teams for practices and some home games. He told the board and residents that as a new club in the area, many teams already have their home fields, so scheduling times for his teams to practice and play
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Of the 24 women chosen as Valentine Lady of Loveland since 1989, 17 remain in the area and continue to serve as ambassadors for Loveland. Six others are deceased and one now lives outside the state of Ohio. Following is a current list of the Valentine Ladies of Loveland. Loveland’s Valentine Ladies: 1989 - Pat Randolph 1990 - Rose Wene (deceased) 1991 - Martha Hockman (now living in Texas) 1992 - Doris Osborne 1993 - Kathryn Sidney (deceased) 1994 - Margaret Kiefer 1995 - Mary McDonnell (deceased) 1996 - Jo Ann Richardson (deceased) 1997 – Bobbie Books (deceased) 1998 – Barbara Dee 1999 - Winona Franz 2000 - Anne Fowler 2001 - Marirose Stiver 2002 - Patricia Furterer 2003 - Kathryn Undercoffer 2004 - Helen Gosch (deceased) 2005 - Lu Boike 2006 - Peggy Goodwin 2007 - Sue Newburger 2008 - Kay Napier
No hope for baseball team to play at Hopewell lfightmaster@communitypress.com
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An aerial view of Hopewell Meadows Park, the photo shows the park's field, tennis court and surrounding neighborhoods. THANKS TO BRIAN ELLIFF games became very difficult. “Most of our opponents are established teams with fields,” he said. “We’re independent, and we wanted to provide a better, more family-oriented expe-
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rience.” Dehume added that only his 12-and-under team would be able to use the field for games, because the field is not large enough to meet regulations for
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his 14-and-under team. If permitted, both teams would use the field for practice. He also said that he chose Hopewell because it was the only park in Symmes Township that had a field which met playing standards. Trustee Jodie Leis said that based on the responses in emails and calls the township received, she knew how the meeting was going to go, but still wanted to bring residents together to discuss the unwritten rule that keeps the township from scheduling organized sports in the park. “It’s your community, we work for you,” Leis said to residents. “It’s our job to see if it’s possible (for the team), like we See TEAM, Page A2
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