Amherst News-Times, 2000-03-22

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Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, March 22, 2000
Amherst, Ohio
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Cop chief to retire after 35 years with for
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by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
Dedicating his efforts since 1965,
police chief Bill Hall, Jr. has focused his energies on contributing to
the safety and quality of life in the
community of Amherst.
Whether it was staffing a patrol
car, working undercover, or driving
the construction of the department's
new $3 million facility. Hall gave
the Amherst citizens access to his
life 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, for 35 years, nearly 23 of
those years as chief.
On Saturday, April IS, Hall will
retire from serving the City of Amherst and its citizens.
The husband, and father of four
children, is looking forward to beginning again with a little time off
and a possible new career on the
horizon.
"After 35 years, I feel I've done
everything I can do here. I want to
retire with enough time to try
another career, while I'm still young
enough to bring in 10 more years.
And I want a summer where I don't
have to get up and don't have to
work, to feel what it's like to be re- ■
tired," mused Hall. "It looks like the
dog and I are going to be doing a lot
of walks down in Mill Hollow."
On June 1, 1965 Hall began his
career as a patrolperson for the Amherst Police Department assigned to
regular road patrol. Hall put in
48-hour weeks on the night shift for
eight years while working in a one-
person patrol vehicle. Hall followed
in the footsteps of his father, William, and his school chum Jim
Young, who both worked for the de-
Police chief William Hall Jr. will be retiring on April 15 after serving the citizens of the city for 35 years; nearly 23 years of Hall's
service has been as chief of police. Pictured, Hall sits behind his
desk at the new Amherst Police Station at 911 N. Lake St.; Hall was
a driving force in the construction of the facility while in his tenure as
chief in Amherst.
partment and convinced Hall to join
the ranks of Amherst's finest.
"In those days the night office
was Bud's Funeral Home. So you
called Bud if you needed backup. If
Bud was sleeping or couldn't hear
you, you called the sheriffs department," Hall smiled.
Of course that meant sometimes
backing up the sheriffs department.
Hall cites one of those evenings as
one of his most memorable in those
beginning years.
One night Hall received a call for
backup at the Lorain Music store for
a possible break in. On the scene,
Hall found the back door ajar and
pulled out his .357 pistol just in time
to give the thief a bit of a wake up
call.
"That was one of the biggest moments of excitement I'd ever had to
that point in my life," Hall stated.
"...Now my exciting day is trying to
fill out the
After thos , Hall
was promou 1971
and was tran ced in
charge of Amherst's Detective Bureau in 1973. While with the bureau,
the chief worked on special assignment with Lorain County Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) for
two years as an undercover narcotics agent.
The chief made lieutenant in 1975
and was promoted to chief of police
on Oct 5, 1977.
"Over the years he's (Hall) done
a good job for the City of AmhersL
He's directed the development for
quality law enforcement as chief for
a number of years," explained Captain Barbara Cowger-Vilage. "And
he's a pretty easy fella to work for.
Being the chiefs second in command, we've only had a few di#>
agreements and we always worked
those ouL"
Probably one of the biggest
changes the chief has seen in his te>
nure in Amherst was the construction of the department's new facility. The department moved to the%
new residence at 911 North Lake
Street in September, 1996. Before
then the police were located in
basement of the city hall building j
downtown Amherst.
But the movement of the dep
ment to a new facility was not
only change for the department fi
that time, according to Hall. It was
the new responsibility and proce*
dure that needed to be addressed 1$
the Amherst Police Department as it
upgraded his technical and management portions of its everyday
workings.
CONTINUED on page 2
I
Cub Scotrt Pack 429 marks   J
40th anniversary at dinner
Members of the Webelo scouts receive the Arrow of Light Award, the highest award in cub
scouting.
Cub Scout Pack 429 held their
annual Blue and Gold dinner recently at St Joseph's Social Hall.
This year, the pack celebrated its
40th anniversary. The pack started
in 1960 with Elmer Valentine serving as the first Cub Master. Valentine attended the dinner this year,
along with Cub Masters Lawrence
McGlinchy and Stephen Palun.
To commemorate the anniversary, a patch designed by Cub Scout John Todhunter, was given to
every scouL
This year 11 boys received the
Arrow of Light Award, the highest
award in Cub Scouting. Recipients
were Russ Ash ton, Craig Bernard,
Steven Bowers, Nick Burgdorf, Ed
Cotton, Tony Henley, Pat Orr, David Riddle, Michael Seng, Aaron
Smith and Max Smith.
After this presentation, a ceremony welcoming the boys into Boy
Scout Troop 427 was held. The following boys moved into the troop:
Russ Ashton, Craig Bernard, Nick
Burgdorf, Ed Cotton, Pat Orr, David Riddle, Michael Seng, and
Aaron Smith.
Eleven boys advanced to the
rank of Webelo. They were Vincent
Ashley, Patrick Bockey, Brad Cochrane, Alex Crlenjak, Joshua Dei-
sler, Ricky Gerena, Tyler Macho-
vina, Joseph Mayer, Jonathon
Messer, Sean Nelson and Everett
Rodgers.
Six boys advanced to the rank of
Bear: Alex Bialko, Brian Hamm,
John Powell, Michael Salisbury,
Ryan Tucker, and Christopher
Volante.
Nick Burgdorf earned the Ready-
man pin. Alex Crlenjak earned the
Family Member pin. Tyler Macho-
vina earned the Communicator pin
and Aaron Smith earned Craftsman
and Traveler pins. Anthony Yaco-
bucci earned a gold and a silver arrow poinL
An award was given to Webelo
leader Rick Lambur for four years
of service as den leader. This year's
Top Banana Award went to Webelo
leader Tamielyn Rodgers. An
award was given to Sue Cotton for
13 years as a leader in the pack and
it was also announced that Cotton
would receive the prestigious Silver
Beaver award for her dedication to
scouting and the community.
Local ice dancer wins top
prize in junior nationals
by KEITH GRIBBINS
News-Times reporter
Why we love an activity is often
inherent in how much it allows us to
express ourselves. Who we are to
the outside world is often only a reflection of what we do and achieve.
Shupe Middle School sixth grader
Kristen Mendoza has dedicated her
life to expressing herself on the ice
since she was four. In the rink the
young ice dancer allows her actions
to speak for her. And on Match 7-12
Mendoza never spoke so loud.
The 12-year-old Amherst girl and
her ice dancing partner Josh Lea
stood tall on the top pedestal of the
Junior National Ice Skating Competition and enunciated their abilities to the entire country by taking
first place in the national
loumamenL
"It felt greai," Mendoza simply
staled. "It's going to change my
life."
Mendoza and her parents traveled
to AmhersL NY, oddly enough, to
face 27 other competitors in four
different ice dances. Seven judges
evaluated the duos on three technical dances and an Original Set Pal-
tern dance. For Mendoza and Lea it
was their fiesta tango, swing dance,
and final hickory hoe down that sent
them to the number one position;
the team's dances were choreographed by Sandy Hess, former
coaches of Olympic skaters Elisabeth Punzalan and Jerrod
Swallow.
"It was almost surreal. I knew going in we were in medal contention
but to feel and witness my daughter
on the top podium, knowing all the
work and preparation they had gone
through, I knew it was worth it,"
Joyce Mendoza explained.
After the group's first two dances
they were tied with a California
couple for first place. It was the final technical dance, the hickory hoe
down, that would make or break the
two ice dancers. But after that ice
dance was complete, the results
were not posted until an hour later;
normally results are posted within
five to 10 minutes, according to
Joyce Mendoza.
"For some reason it took them a
long time to post (the results). People were climbing up the walls. It
kinda made things more intense,"
Joyce Mendoza stated.
But when the results came ouL
they sent the team into the top position alone. A final ice dance rested
on the shoulders of two skaters. The
team had their OSP dance or free
dance left to perform that consisted
of dancing to a waltz from the movie "Cousins".
That final dance produced nothing but 1 ordinals, like 6.0s in pro-
fessional ice skating, for the dancing
duo, ensuring the first place position
for the Amherst team.
But what got the two youngsters
to that esteemed bench mark in the
sport was not skill alone, but hard
work, (fcdication, and love of the
spoil, according the Joyce Mendoza.
Mendoza works three lo four
hours every weekday to tone her
CONTINUED on paga •
Local lot dancers Kristen Mendoza and Josh
Lea are seen on the winners blocks accepting
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