July 7, 2011
Tax abatements approved in annual review By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Canal Winchester Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) met in June for its annual review of the city’s two community reinvestment areas and the Diley Road tax increment financing district, and approved each of the qualifying property owners as continuing to meet the
obligations that qualify them for property tax abatements. “We have two (abatement areas), one for Franklin County and one for Fairfield County,” said Nanisa Osborn, Canal Winchester’s finance director. “They review all of the commercial or residential properties that have received a community reinvestment area abatement and in Fairfield County, they review the TIF
district also.” Both CRA districts were created in 1987. Qualifying properties under the Canal Winchester CRA agreements receive property tax exemptions for a fixed period of years, up to 100 percent of property valuation. Community Reinvestment Areas are established in specifically identified regions where the housing stock is considered to be in need of redevelop-
ment. In tax increment financing agreements, property taxes are still paid at the same rates by the property owner, but the amounts paid are diverted from their ordinary purpose toward specific improvements on the property, such as roadways and other infrastructure. There are 14 properties in the city’s CRA No. 1. The largest single abatement
is for TS Trim — $2.97 million abated on a property value of $4.5 million, representing $90,700 in foregone property taxes. A second abatement, also for TS Trim, is valued at $303,000 abated on total value of $3.6 million, representing $9,200 in foregone taxes in 2010. See TAX ABATEMENTS, page A4
Pastor’s challenge prompts July 9 fundraiser By JOSH POLAND WBNS-10TV As a certified personal trainer, Erica Manning is used to helping people transform flab into muscle. Bulking up a modest financial investment is an entirely different proposition. Nevertheless, Manning and four friends have embraced the new challenge with all their considerable might. On July 9, the five women — all personal trainers and members of Pickerington’s Grace Fellowship Church — hold a fitA closer look will ness-themed fundraiser at the Canal WinAll proceeds from the “Hope chester gym Challenge” will go to Asia’s where they regHope, a Columbus-based, ularly work out. multidenominational proAll proceeds gram that provides long-term from the “Hope care to orphans in Cambodia Challenge” will and Thailand, children at go to Asia’s high risk for sexual and Hope, a economic exploitation. Columbusbased, multidenominational program that provides long-term care to orphans in Cambodia and Thailand, children at high risk for sexual and economic exploitation. “Obviously, as personal trainers, we take great satisfaction in helping people reach their fitness goals, but this takes it a little bit further,” Manning said. “This helps people who really need help.” The Hope Challenge began with a challenge from Keith Minier, senior pastor at Grace Fellowship, 7140 Reynoldsburg-Baltimore Road, a 620member congregation affiliated with the Indianabased Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. A few weeks ago, to illustrate a sermon on priorities and stewardship, Minier put $3,000 — broken into amounts ranging from $100 to $500 — in 12 envelopes and sealed them. At the conclusion of each of that Sunday’s three services, he placed four of the envelopes at the front of the church and invited members to pick them up. His charge to those who accepted the challenge: Take the money and grow it. Specifically, the pastor told them they had six weeks to parlay the cash into larger amounts that the church would then collect and forward to Asia’s Hope. “It’s fun and exciting,” Minier said this week. “It’s also a risk and a challenge, but our people have risen to the challenge before and knocked it
By Eric George/ThisWeek
World War II veteran Michael Pohorilla, 87, shares his experiences as an U.S. Army Air Force B-17 navigator. The plane he served was dubbed the “Sky-Goddess.”
Veteran recalls WWII service aboard the ‘Sky-Goddess’ By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Michael Pohorilla remembers the day following the 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor as the most patriotic day in U.S. history during his lifetime. “I was only 17 when Pearl Harbor happened. I was listening to the football game on the radio when the announcer came in,” Pohorilla recalled. “Monday morning, every city in America with a recruiting station had guys lined up around the block. Guys would sign up for the duration (of the war) plus an additional six months. That continued until 16.1 million U.S. soldiers were recruited — that was one in eight citizens. Literally the whole country was involved.” The 87-year-old Canal Winchester resident was raised in northeastern Pennsylvania, where his parents settled after moving from what was at the time the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Pohorilla’s father fought in
World War I as a U.S. infantryman and worked for years as a coal miner. When Pohorilla was 5, his father died after being exposed to a toxic gas attack in the war. “Thanks to my father, I was able to fight on the right side of (WWII), same as he did in his time,” Pohorilla said. “When I turned 18, I enlisted in the U.S. Army as an aviation cadet. I wanted to be a pilot but flunked a 40-hour flight test, so they made me a navigator instead.” He served in the U.S. Army Air Force, where he earned the rank of first lieutenant before his military stint ended. Pohorilla said he flew 35 bombing missions out of southern England. On the 18th mission, his B-17, named the “Sky-Goddess,” was hit by German anti-aircraft flak as it
flew over Merseberg (near Leipzig), where the crew had just dropped three tons of bombs on a chemical plant used to synthetically manufacture oil for the German war machine. “You can fly a B-17 on two or three engines, but maintaining altitude and fuel consumption is a real problem,” he said. “I set coordinates for the straightest line back to Dover (England) I could, but we weren’t going to make it. “The pilot had me instruct everyone to prepare to parachute out, but when the time came to jump, no one would go because we were too low to safely parachute out. By this point, we were over southern Belgium, which was liberated territory. “I found us a nice, freshly plowed field and our pilot managed to do a gear-up belly landing; mud flew everywhere, but everyone survived it,” he said. “We left the ‘Sky-Goddess’ in that field and switched out with different planes for the rest of our missions.”
Looking at a map, Pohorilla traced the route through anti-aircraft fire that each mission took. For the bombers to survive through to their target and then return home, a normal mission had a formation of almost 1,000 aircraft, according to Pohorilla, which put 10,000 airmen in the sky at a time — the equivalent of one whole infantry battalion on the ground. “Someone studied the numbers of the 8th Air Force and found that only about 8 percent of us were lucky enough to be a part of the Lucky Bastard Club,” Pohorilla said. The club represents flight crew members who survived all 35 of their missions. “We say God is our copilot. We only lost one member of our crew, a young kid who left behind a new bride at home,” he recalled. “Banes was a waist gunner who substituted on another flight when he was killed.” Since the war, Pohorilla has reSee POHORILLA, page A2
See HOPE CHALLENGE, page A2
Board seeks recognition for barber museum Violet Township By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Through a small doorway, tucked in between a corner building at Waterloo and High streets and the Wigwam Restaurant, is a staircase leading to what residents contend is the world’s only barber museum — a unique attraction that its new board of directors hopes to promote nationally. Mike Ippoliti, Howard Warner, Marian Harris, Rita Manglona, James Schwarz, Karen Stiles and Mike Coolman have been appointed to the board by the Canal Winchester Historical Society, which owns the museum at 2 1/2 S. High St. in Canal Winchester. A set of advisors to the board also has been named: Bruce Jarvis, Bob Garvin, Mayor Michael Ebert and Kim Rankin. “We’ve got something no one else in the world has,” Ebert said. He hopes the museum will become a focus for tourism, which will help it sur-
“
It’s overwhelming to think this museum started with one man’s dream. Canal Winchester should be very proud to have this collection… This is the only barber museum in the world.
HOWARD WAGNER
”
— museum board member and director of
State of Ohio Barber board
vive and be a benefit to downtown business. “It’s overwhelming to think this museum started with one man’s dream,” said Warner, who also is the director of the State of Ohio Barber Board. “Canal Winchester should be very proud to have this collection. (The museum board) hopes to move the museum to the ground floor in the fu-
ture and is promoting it nationally. This is the only barber museum in the world.” Canal Winchester resident Ed Jeffers started the museum in 1988 with just 10 items, after spending 45 years as a barber. Now, according to museum director Mike Ippoliti, there are two complete barbershops in storage, more than 2,000 razors, 71 barber poles and more, all of which museum volunteers are working to catalogue. “People continue to donate stuff,” Ippoliti said. “The first time I walked up (to the museum) after (Jeffers) died, I thought, ‘What is all this stuff?’We’ve got a couple of interns who are working on cataloging everything. Fortunately, we have a videotape of (Jeffers) giving a tour so that we were able to learn some of what was what.” According to Warner, Ippoliti is filling Jeffers’ role well. “He has done an awesome job,” Warner said. “I grew up in a barbershop and have See BOARD SEEKS, page A2
dog park now open By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
After more than two years of planning and work, the first public dog park in Fairfield County opened last weekend in Violet Township. On July 1, Violet Township officials opened the gates to Friends of the Violet Township Dog Park at the corner of Pickerington and Stemen roads. It’s been a long time coming. Plans were initiated after a group of local dog enthusiasts approached Violet Township trustees with a proposal to raise half the funds needed for the project, and in October 2008, formed a nonprofit foundation to begin accepting donations. After the group raised approx-
imately $42,000 and the township committed to funding the other half of the project, the opening of the 8.9-acre park was stalled by a wet spring that prevented grass seed from taking hold. But all that’s behind the effort now, and dogs are free to romp untethered within the confines of the fenced-in park that features a dog water fountain, up to 19 trees, an asphalt path and a wheelchairaccessible parking area. “It’s been a little difficult, but it hasn’t been because of the joint partnership between the (Friends of the Violet Township Dog Park) and the township,” said Bill Yaple, Violet Township director of operations. “The difficulty has been with the weather and allowing the See DOG PARK, page A2