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Thursday, June 22, 2023
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Volume 10, Issue 25
OBERLIN
Maafa honors enslaved ancestors who died DAVE O’BRIEN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
OBERLIN — The somber and joyful mixed at Westwood Cemetery on June 17 as celebrants took part in a Maafa ceremony to bring to a close the annual observation of the Juneteenth holiday. Maafa comes from the Kiswahili term meaning “terrible occurrence” or “great disaster,” according to the program for Saturday’s event. It references the “holocaust of enslavement” or “the Black holocaust, when millions of Africans died during the journey of captivity from the coasts of Africa to the shores of America, known as the Middle Passage,” according to the program. Adenike Sharpley performed a Yoruba libation ceremony, offered in the tradition of Africans who died from the slave trade and slavery in the New World. “Though they did not live
More Juneteeth coverage Inside
JEFF BARNES | The Community Guide
Shirley Chambers leads in song during the Maafa Memorial Service held at Westwood Cemetery on June 17 in Oberlin. to experience freedom, we give thanks for the prayers and sacrifices of our ancestors that we, their descendants, might live free,” according to the ceremonial program.
Amherst Republicans fill auditor, ballot vacancies CARISSA WOYTACH THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
AMHERST — The Amherst Republican Central Committee elected a new city auditor, as well as a candidate for City Council Ward 2. Brenda Phillips will serve as auditor, both as an interim for Derek Pittak’s unexpired term and to appear on the November ballot to run for the seat. Pittak announced his resignation in May, effective June 5, as he and his family moved to Avon. Phillips will start today as auditor, serving through the end of the year. She will face a candidate selected by the city’s Democratic Central Committee, with the winner of the November race filling Pittak’s unexpired term through 2025. Phillips is a registered nurse and substitute fitness instructor at the Amherst HealthPlex and previously worked as a hospital administrator. She is involved on several boards as well as volunteer opportunities, including at Amherst’s St. Joseph Church and Second
Harvest Food Bank, according to a brief biography that Amherst BRENDA RepubPHILLIPS lican Central Committee member Will Boose read during the meeting. “My KRISTIN hopes DICKERHOFF are to meet and greet the staff and work well together with the staff and help promote the financial health and fiscal responsibility for the citizens of the city of Amherst,” Phillips said. Kristin Dickerhoff will appear on the ballot for Ward 2, after candidate Jerry Gach resigned effective June 5, according to the letter sent to Central Committee members. Gach was unopposed in the GOP primary earlier this year. AUDITOR PAGE A3
The Rev. Laurence Nevels gave the invocation, praying that the names of those “too numerous to mention” who came before and died “for a cause larger than themselves” be
remembered for their commitment and sacrifice of time and talent. Remembered this year was the late Linda Isabell, a longtime Oberlin Juneteenth committee member
who died Jan. 13 after a long illness. Isabell lived in Oberlin for 67 years, graduating from Oberlin High School in 1966, attending Oberlin Business College in the
late 1960s and working at the Oberlin Public Library for 30 years before she retired due to illness in December 2018, according to her obituary, which Nevels read on Saturday. Isabell “never designed acknowledgement or accolades,” he said, spending time as a substitute aide in the Oberlin Schools in the mid to late 1980s and being a 20-year member of the Oberlin Juneteenth committee. “Linda’s sole interest was to err on the side of equality for all in her contributions toward the betterment of Oberlin and the inclusion of its Black community,” Nevels read from her obituary. Shirley Chambers led those present in “Walk MAAFA PAGE A2
Fish Festival water fight shows firefighters’ fellowship OWEN MACMILLAN THE COMMUNITY GUIDE
VERMILION — Dozens gathered to watch one of the oldest traditions in Vermilion’s Festival of the Fish: The annual water fight hosted by the Vermilion Fire Department. The event held on June 18 pitted teams of three firefighters from different departments against each other in a contest to judge their teamwork, accuracy and willingness to get a little wet. A water fight is a kind of reverse tug-of-war, where each team aims a hose at a bright orange bucket suspended on a wire between them, and attempts to shoot it back to the other team’s base. “Every year these guys get out and have a good time, and they love the competition,” Assistant Chief Doug Keith said. “It’s an important tradition for the festival now, we’ve been doing it longer than I’ve been here.” Participating firefighters represented local depart-
OWEN MacMILLAN | The Community Guide
Florence Twp. Fire Chief Nick Halliwell (left) and Lt. Michael Lee dial in their water stream during the annual Vermilion water fight on June 18. ments including Berlin Township, South Amherst, Wakeman, Vermilion and Florence Township, which fielded three teams. Prior to the water fight, members of ever participating department lead a parade through Vermilion with fire engines, trucks,
LifeCare ambulances and other support vehicles. The tight-knit departments work together through mutual aid day in and day out, and the familiarity between their firefighters and families was clear. But despite that close-
ness they are still a competitive bunch, and water fights are a perfect way to hone their skills and see who is the best, said Lt. Michael Lee of the Florence Township Fire Department. “I like the comradery of WATER PAGE A2
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Reenactors at Sandstone Village ● A3
Oberlin
Virtual cardiology care available ● A6
Sports
All-Star baseball game ● A4-5
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8