Where are they now?

WHERE ARE THEY

NOW? WE CATCH UP WITH SOME OF OUR FAVORITE DAYTON ATHLETES, TV CELEBRITIES, POLITICIANS AND MORE.

BY THE EDITORS

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DAYTON MAGAZINE . October/November 2018

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Marcella Raymond From 1992 to 1998 she was on-air at WDTN channel 2 in a myriad of positions from reporter to anchor with a wicked sense of humor off—and sometimes on—screen.

Marcella Raymond was here briefly, but made her mark breaking big stories.

“I was only in Dayton a few months when I broke a story of a mom who drowned her son and threw his body in a dumpster. Before police arrested her I interviewed her. She said her son was kidnapped from the mall. She cried and cried. After that my photographer Ron Hicks said, ‘She did it.’ That story still haunts me,” she says, The New York City-born Raymond moved to Chicago at the age of 10 and fell in love with the Windy City.

“My cousin came to Chicago from New York. He worked for NBC Sports and his job sounded really cool. My dad wanted me to be a sportscaster but I was more interested in news,” Raymond says.

She began her career in Rockford, Illinois, in 1990 and then headed to the Gem City in 1992.

“I loved the people I worked with in Dayton. Made great friends, many I still see and others I keep in touch with on Facebook. I learned how to hone my reporting skills and made a lot of mistakes.

All of it helped me make the transition to Chicago,” she says.

She ended up at WGN and never looked back.

“I’ve covered the historic inauguration of President Obama, the blizzard of 2011, but the stories I love most are the ones with Chicago’s very own who have incredible stories to tell,” she says.

What’s next for Raymond?

“Just finished my first book, a crime thriller about a TV reporter who usually covers the top story and then becomes the top story. I’m hoping it’s a book series or even a TV series,” Raymond says.

Well, if you ask me, it’s a good thing she didn’t listen to dad.

- JIM BUCHER

DAYTON MAGAZINE . October/November 2018

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Paul Leonard Paul Leonard, known as the “rock ‘n’ roll” mayor of Dayton from 1982 to 1986, is no longer actively involved in politics, but he’s still rockin’.

Leonard, who also served as a state representative in the Ohio House from 1973 through 1980 and as lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1987 through 1991, says people ask him all the time why he’s no longer involved in politics.

“I, frankly, had run out of gas,” says Leonard. “The fire in the belly was out.”

Plus, his parents—who were immensely proud of his accomplishments, especially becoming mayor—had died and he realized after 20 years of living on a public salary that he hadn’t made a

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lot of money. He decided that he needed more of a stable life and to make money at his law practice before retirement.

Now, in addition to his law practice, Leonard teaches political science at Wright State University, where he’s been for more than 20 years. He couldn’t be happier. “I enjoy teaching more than I did practicing (politics),” he says, even though serving as mayor of his hometown was a lot of fun and “it was the best job I had.”

He says he’s grown to love both Wright State University and being in a college classroom. “I think the teaching atmosphere actually helps keep you young.”

He has a home on Hutchinson Island

in Florida and a home in Washington Township that he shares with his two rescue dogs—Meatloaf, a St. Bernard, and Sweet Pea, a collie.

A guitar player and lead singer in a band during high school and college, Leonard still finds time to play rock ‘n’ roll on his electric bass guitar. And he still takes guitar lessons “just to brush up on it” and refresh his memory on a regular basis.

“I put some CDs on the player and get my bass guitar out and sing to the dogs,” says Leonard. And they never complain. “But they go outside for some reason,” he says.

- ERIC SPANGLER

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Mike Schmidt During his 17 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies Dayton native Mike Schmidt made history—he was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 and is considered by many to be one of the greatest third basemen to ever play the game. Now, at the age of 68 and a resident of Florida since 1993, Schmidt spends his time competing against an opponent of a different kind.

“In September of 2013,” Schmidt says, “the biopsy of a mole on my back came back revealing stage 3 melanoma. An entire new life started on that day.”

Schmidt, an icon in the world of sports, suddenly found himself facing multiple surgeries, treatments, medications, infusions and a new normal way of living. Now cancer free, he credits his family and friends, his faith and of course a team of excellent health professionals with his recovery.

Since that time, Schmidt has dedicated his life to expanding the public’s awareness of the dangers of exposure to the sun. From early detection of potential problems through dermatological visits, to sunscreen usage, proper clothing and education.

“I now serve on the board of The Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation,” he says, “where we currently have several programs, including making Philadelphia the first Sun Smart City and Citizens Bank Park the first Sun Smart Stadium. I’m also partnered with Merck Pharmaceutical on a program called ‘My Cancer Game Plan.’”

Schmidt, one of baseball’s most beloved “Boys of Summer,” continues to use his talent and energy to educate the public and prevent cancer from claiming more victims.

In 2014, Schmidt returned to the Philadelphia Phillies as a broadcaster for Sunday home games, adding Saturday telecasts to his weekend responsibilities the following year. Schmidt had previously worked in the Phillies broadcast booth during the 1990 season.

– TIM WALKER

DAYTON MAGAZINE . October/November 2018

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Kim Faris 62

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Kim Faris, now the radio personality on Mix 107.7 – The 80’s to Now and Dayton’s Hot Country B945, didn’t know that radio would be her true calling.

“It started when I was a sophomore in college,” says Faris. “I was a dance major in college, but I had suffered a knee injury.” Faris was filming a Christmas special with her college arts program. The television station also had a radio station.

As she saw the disc jockey she knew it was what she wanted to do. “That’s how it all started,” says Faris.

She transferred and graduated from Bowling State University with a degree in broadcast journalism.

After college, she moved back to her hometown of Dayton and began working for WJAI Radio in 1978. Faris then spent 14 years co-hosting the Z-93 morning show on WGTZ with a variety of partners.

“The most important moments to me are when I am making a difference in the life of another person,” Faris says. “When you’re in the radio a lot of times you’re the only voice that some people hear every day. I’ve always been proud when people say they’ve listened to me for years and their kids have listened to me for years.”

Some of the moments that have made Faris the most proud in her professional career are when she was inducted into the Radio/Television Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame Ohio and the Dayton Area Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.

Faris also enjoys lending her talent for local organizations. In March 2018, Faris was chosen as one of the recipients of the YWCA Women of Influence awards. “I think it’s so important to be able to be a member of your community and make a difference in your community,” Faris says. “I’ve always said that I try to use my voice for good.”

Faris is proud to be a part of the Dayton community. “I love this area and the people here,” Faris says. “It’s home.”

– MADISON RODGERS

Jeff Wicker Anybody remember this? “Eaton, Dayton, Springfield Alive: Z-93!”

Bring back memories?

Well, in the 1990s I became friends with the radio station’s morningmad-man Jeff Wicker and his “Wicker in the Morning” AM drive-time show from 1992-1995.

At the time, Wicker joined me on a new segment on WDTN channel 2 called “2 On the Town.” We had a ball.

But he got the “itch” and bigger things beckoned, moving to Chicago and taking a morning gig on an all ‘70s hits station, until they changed formats to Spanish—Wicker spoke French. We sort of lost touch until recently and picked up where we left off.

“After Chicago, in August of 1996, I took a job doing mornings on a top 40 station in Richmond, Virginia, Q94 one of the last 200,000-watt FM stations in the country. We still used the name ‘Wicker in the Morning’ and did similar bits, stunts and games like at Z93,” Wicker says.

Wicker got out of radio for a bit from 2002 to 2004. During that period he was a commercial spokesperson on radio and TV, and auditioned for any TV or movie gig that came along. That was fun, but says he missed radio.

“Today, I’m married with three kids and back in Richmond doing ‘Wicker in The Morning’ on WTVR Mix 98.1 and have a blast, talk about the current trends, take a lot of calls and give away tons of tickets. It feels good to be back on the air,” he says.

What’s next for Wicker?

“I would like to do some more ‘2 on the Towns.’”

Are you listening channel 2? I know a couple of guys.

– JIM BUCHER

DAYTON MAGAZINE . October/November 2018

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Edwin Moses Although Edwin Moses—the two-time Olympic gold medalist who won 122 consecutive 400-meter hurdle races between 1977-1987—retired from competitive running years ago he hasn’t slowed down a bit.

A Dayton native who graduated from Fairview High School, Moses, who now lives in Atlanta, continues his decades-long push to keep performance-enhancing drugs out of athletics as board chair of both the U.S. AntiDoping Agency and the Education Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The USADA manages the anti-doping program, including testing, for Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Para-pan American sport. The WADA enforces a world anti-doping code through monitoring, education and compliance efforts.

“We deal with all the issues with doping, antagonizing everybody to do the right thing in pro sports,” Moses says of his work. “Our whole philosophy is we have to make sure there is a clean and level playing field for the athletes.”

In addition, Moses is also the chair of the Laureus World Sports Academy, an association of living sports legends with the goal of using sport to effect positive social change.

The organization supports over 150 projects in more than 40 countries around the world and holds events like the recent Sport for Good Fashion Show, which

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featured star athletes walking a runway to raise money for underserved youth across the country.

Moses is able to contribute to these initiatives despite having to recover from suffering two traumatic brain injuries in the span of two months in 2017.

After falling down the stairs and later hitting his head on the doorjamb of a car, Moses lost the ability to walk and bucked traditional concussion treatment in favor of more aggressive treatment from physical therapist Ken Yoshino.

Moses went from unable to walk and taking two minutes to pick up his cellphone to fully recovered just over 13 months after the initial accident.

“I was pretty much moving like a sloth at one point. I had to rewire and reconfigure all of my muscles with my brain starting from zero,” he says. “To bring in my own person and put in a serious recovery program that’s the only reason I was able to come back.”

Now back to a workout regimen of weights, stretching, running and swimming, Moses was even able to clear a hurdle during a recent visit to the United States Tennis Association at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida.

“That was the first time I’ve been able to leave the ground knowing I was going to come down safely,” he says. “I would’ve never thought I would be able to do that again.”

– SCOTT UNGER

DAYTON MAGAZINE . October/November 2018

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Steve Tatone If you lived in the Miami Valley during a certain time period the name Steve Tatone would immediately bring a number of things to mind: the city of Fairborn, Buicks, the Holiday Aid charity, and—last but not least—the music of Neil Diamond.

“I still love Neil Diamond,” says Tatone, currently a resident of Sarasota, Florida. But the former car salesman, whose well-known “Drive a Little, Save a Lot” catchphrase was inescapable on local television stations for years, now has his sights set on bigger screens. As a film producer, director and screenwriter,

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Steve Tatone, right, directs actor Armand Assante on the Florida set of the second film Tatone wrote and produced, a thriller titled Blind Pass.

Tatone has been involved in a number of film projects over the past decade through his own production company, and he is now as comfortable in the film business as he used to be selling cars and promoting concerts. As his life evolves, however, one thing remains constant—his focus on helping others.

In addition to writing and directing films such as Blind Pass and Beautiful Noise, Tatone is now presenting and promoting The Sweet Caroline Tour, a Neil Diamond tribute show that features Diamond tribute artist Jay White and

three members of Diamond’s actual touring band. The tour’s stated goal is to raise funds for Parkinson’s research. Earlier this year, Diamond himself announced he would retire from touring after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

“One of the things that I’m most proud of,” Tatone says, “is the work we did in Dayton over the years with Holiday Aid. Now I find myself continuing that tradition with the Sweet Caroline tour and the money we’re raising for Parkinson’s research.”

– TIM WALKER