community interest
El Hombre Barber Shop “A Modern Old-Fashioned Barber Shop”
440-632-5865
Rick Seyer’s hours: Monday and Tuesday 9-5:30 Becky Griffen: Wed-Friday 9-5:30; Sat. 9-1
Spidalieri’s Plaza 14895 North State Ave. • Middlefield (Across from the Fire Station)
– Footwear for the Whole Family – – Men’s Work Boots – Choose from: • Redwing • LaCrosse • Danner • Wolverine • Irishsetter • Georgia • Rocky • Chippewa • Muck Boots • Hi-Tec • Vasque • Keen • Merrill & more!
Custom rk o Leatherw Available
Total Family Eyecare Comprehensive Eye Examinations Glasses • Contacts Sport/Safety Eyewear
14901 state Ave., N. Middlefield 440-632-1695 www.geaugavision.com Eye Med, Spectera, Medical Mutual, Care Source & Many Other Plans Accepted 7 Offices tO serve Akron – 330-784-1155 ChAgrin FAlls – 440-247-4920 ChArdon – 440-286-3373 ClevelAnd – 216-363-2513 gArrettsville – 330-527-2020 MiddleField – 440-632-1695 lAkewood – 216-227-2020
WE CARRY A HUGE SUPPLY OF Bulk DAC HORSE SUPPLEMENTS Pricing
We Also Carry: Lots of Tack, Available All Sizes of Harnesses, Equine Supplies and Valley Road Children’s Wagons
–Indiana-style Harnesses too–
MULLET’S HARNESS SHOP 16138 Newcomb Road, Middlefield 44062
440-632-1527
Mon-Thurs 8-5, Fri 8-6, Sat 8-4 (Closed Sunday)
(330) 562-8850 (440) 632-0641
• Well Cleaning • Well Sealing
Speechless in Ohio By Nancy Huth When I returned to the U.S. after living many years out of the country, I noticed American English had taken on some peculiarities. First, I became aware that I was now a guy. The waitress addressing my husband and me (yes, me, not I) didn’t say, “Can I get you anything else?” but “Can I get you guys anything else?” or “Would you guys like any dessert?” I informed her that I wasn’t a guy, but, except for one waitress who said, “Oh, yes, my grandmother always tells me not to say that, too”, most just stared at me quizzically as if I were dressed in medieval garb. I am now aware of the epidemic proportions of “you guys” and of the futility of my trying to stamp it out. Even the president says it. Waitresses also say “You got it” when you order something or “no problem”. I always expect to get it and don’t imagine that it will be a problem, but somehow these little phrases creep in. After a while they may creep out. Then there is “awesome”. The first time that I went to an eye doctor’s office the receptionist handed me a pencil and said it would be “awesome” if I signed my name on the patients’ list. I had always thought things like sunsets and rainbows were awesome, but the word had lost its “awesomeness” and come to describe my meager signature. It left me wondering how
maxherrwell@aol.com
MAX HERR Well Drilling & Pump Service
• Water Treatment • Rotary & Cable Well Drilling • Plastic or Steel Casing Terry Herr & Kyle Herr 4 Generations of Service Drilled over 3,000 wells in Geauga County alone. “ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL”
Geauga County Retired Teachers Grants The Geauga County Retired Teachers Association is offering two $1,500 grants to deserving college seniors. The recipients must be enrolled in a college of education and be student teaching during the 2014 - 2015 school year. Interested persons must have resided in Geauga County or be graduates of a Geauga County high School. For an application, contact Ruth Holm at 15920 Arbor Trail, Newbury Ohio 44065, or call 440-564-6652. Completed applications must be submitted by May15.
Geauga Connection Pantry Collection Geauga Connection will host a Pantry Collection Easter Fund raiser to distribute food between all seven food pantries in Geauga County. Items can be dropped off
Geauga One-‐Stop WorkPlace & Ohio WorkForce is now
OhioMeansJobs Geauga County Providing the same great services to employers & job seekers OhioMeansJobs Geauga County Geauga County Job & Family Services 12480 Ravenwood Drive Chardon, OH 44021 440.285.9141
16 www.middlefieldpost.com
I could now describe the sunset. “Awesome” is also acquiring epidemic proportions. And third and most definitely there is “absolutely”. It is no longer sufficient to say, yes, of course, or sure. One needs to express more assuredness. At first, I felt I had asked a stupid question, when to a simple query like “Did your mother like her Christmas present?” “Absolutely” came shooting back at me. As if I should have known better. There’s a superlativeness creeping into the language. Words previously used more sparingly now become commonplace. Simple words need back up. If we’ve gone all the way up to “absolutely”, where can we go from there? Even the little pronoun “I” has maneuvered it way into phrases requiring me. Perhaps “I” sounds more elegant, even if incorrect grammatically. You wouldn’t say “John gave his old records to I.” But how often we hear something similar to “John gave his old records to my brother and I,” rather than “my brother and me” as it should be. If you wonder whether to use me or I, just take the noun out of the sentence and read it with just the pronoun. Language is a living entity and it does change, but as a recent writer in the New York Times wrote, some overused words should be relegated to the dumpster. Is that absolutely awesome to you guys?
March 19, 2014
from now until April at Newbury Printing and More, 12424 Kinsman Road; The Kirk Farm Bed & Breakfast, 7900 S. Girdle Road in Middlefield; First Quality Power Place, 16891 Kinsman Road in Middlefield; Western Reserve Title Co., LTD; 15979 E. High St., Suite 207 in Middlefield and the Geauga Credit Union, 14499 N. Cheshire St. in Burton. Please help Geauga Connection help others in our county. Contact Dan Johnson, 440-632-5068, Mark Dolezal, 440-632-5055 or Nick Hall, 440-834-4612.