Please, Mr. Gravedigger

By Myndi Milliken Toledo Free Press Managing Editor mmilliken@toledofreepress.com

A ship bearing a Dutch name comes to rest along Toledo’s docks after 12 days sailing across the Atlantic. Lum ber is stacked high in its hold, waiting for transport to major cities for sale in home improvement stores. Also aboard are the captain and his crew, hailing from many parts of the globe.

Members of Toledo’s Port manage ment company, Midwest Terminals of Toledo, greet the crew, shaking hands and offering smiles that have been shared before. Courtesy gifts are exchanged and the offer to toast a stiff drink repeats itself often, but the Americans politely decline, offering promises to meet up after-hours.

It is a side of commerce Toledo citi zens rarely get to see. Every day, ships ride the waves of the Atlantic and pass up many ports to come into the heart of America — a vein of transportation for worldwide goods that proves beneficial for Toledo.

“Toledo is interesting for the lum ber — you have a very big yard where you can store the lumber outside, and Toledo is seen as a very good logistical distribution center for this area,” said Hans Kroon, chartering manager with Wagenborg Shipping North America, a company based in the Netherlands. “Cleveland and Detroit could be options, but they don’t have these big facilities.”

“The working relationship we have is very good,” Kroon said, noting Toledo Port officials have visited with his company many times to extend goodwill and earn his trust for their business.

“We travel to see if we can start to grow their business even more, because they do have the best fleet on the Great Lakes. We pay particular attention to customer service and how we can do things better,” said Matt Duty, director of marketing for Midwest Terminals of Toledo. Midwest Terminals operates the port under the direction of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. Duty said international relationships often must be built on different terms than American busi ness, but it has its rewards.

“To grow the business is going over

Toledo Free Press photo by Myndi Milliken

and seeing people in Europe as well. It’s not just to let them come to you. That expectation is really frowned upon but they really appreciate it when you go over to see them, to see how they do business,” Duty said. “In America, it’s always about the bottom line, but in Europe, it’s about relationships and trust.”

According to Jim Hartung, president and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, commerce coming into Toledo through the mouth of the Maumee River is a vital part of the City’s economic success.

By Edward Slack Special to Toledo Free Press

Toledo’s history from its earliest times to present day is rich, varied and certainly worthy of celebration. Toledo is one of the few cities in Ohio lacking a historical museum, and its creation is an idea long overdue.

Five men met last week to discuss the concept. Attending were Michael Drew Shaw, director of the Skyway Visitors Center project; Fred Folger, retired teacher for Washington Local Schools; Rolf Scheidel, attorney; Dr. Ernest Weaver, UT professor emeritus and board member of the Maumee Valley Historical Society; and this writer.

Teamwork is vital to the creation of such a project, and partnership an essential ingredient. Mr. Shaw is joining me in the creation of the mu seum. Our collaboration has the goal of placing the museum within the Skyway Center complex and aggressively promoting it regionally in a variety of ways and globally on www.skyway.com, Skyway Center’s new Web site, which will launch early in 2006. Discussions are preliminary pending further meetings, consultations with interested parties, and many other concerns.

Early in 2005, I began contributing columns to Toledo Free Press focusing on Downtown revitalization from the perspective of a native Toledoan, and the need for retail development driven by a growing population base. Months of interviewing civic leaders, executive directors, and local investors have provided ample op portunity to learn what exists Downtown and future possibilities. One theme became apparent: Toledoans want change, but fight change at every step.

Collaboration between Skyway Center and the Toledo Historical Museum in the Marina District can represent two signature pieces in the overall picture of a destination place for Toledoans, visitors throughout the nation, and the world.

The Museum can be envisioned as a non-profit organization with a three-fold goal: ■ To present exhibits and re-enactments that are historically accurate. ■ To provide for the educational enrichment of visitors young and old. ■ To promote activities that are factual, informative and entertaining.

The mission statement draft reads: “Our continu ing goal is to present and preserve the history of the City of Toledo, Ohio, from the past, to the present, and for posterity. The display of artifacts, archival docu ments and exhibits, with the addition of historical reenactments, are designed to provide the public with expressions of Toledo’s rich and varied history.”

We, the citizens of Toledo, can be proud of our history and build cooperatively for the future, if we so choose.

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