Amherst News-Times, 2001-07-18

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Wednesday, July 18, 2001
Amherst, Ohio
a
Old House draws neighbors' ire
by ERIK YORKE
News-Timos reporter
No one has lived in the house on
208 Erie St, in South Amherst for
years, unless you count the rats. According to neighbors the owner of
the house, 65-year-old Isabel Socy,
left the house unattended a number
of years ago.
"My understanding is she vacated
the home about 20 years ago," said
Tim Alcorn of Erie Street.
Residents of the Erie Street
neighborhood are concerned about
die safety risk they feel the abandoned house poses.
"I think it's a health hazard because there's broken glass," said Alcorn. "There are children in the
neighborhood."
Residents have complained frequently to both the South Amherst
Village Council as well as to the
Lorain County Health Department
Alcorn feels that until just recently
that South Amherst officials have
done little to correct what he feels is
a village problem.
They kind of stuck their head in
the sand about it," Alcom said
According to South Amherst
Mayor Chet Arcaba, as long as the
residence is maintained, the village
can do nothing about it. Maintenance in this sense does not apply to
the house itself. It does apply to
keeping the grass at below 12 inches
and eliminating certain weeds.
On July 10, Socy pled no contest
and was found guilty of violating a
South Amherst Village ordinance.
She failed to remove weeds from
the 208 Erie SL property. She was
fined $10 plus court costs, but die
fine and the costs were suspended.
This house on Erie Street in South Amherst
has drawn the ire of neighbors in the area who
say it is an eyesore and a health hazard.
In addition to South Amherst village officials, the Lorain County
Health Department is also conscious
of the problem on Erie Street.
"We have been concerned about
(the Socy property) for a couple of
years," said Jim Boddy, director of
environmental health at the health
department. According to Boddy, a
primary concern about the property
is the harboring of rats. Signs of rats
have been found on the property, he
said
Another concern is security. As
the building features many broken
windows, some boarded up, some
not, questions of security are many.
"It does look like it can be refurbished, but it doesn't look
CONTINUED on page
Summer thee s
troupe to sta*y<=
popular musical
this weekend
Sandstone Summer Theatre will present Rogers and Ham-
merstein's "Suite Fair" as its 32nd annual musical on July
19-21. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. in die air-
conditioned Nord Junior High gym.
Tickets are $7 for reserved seating and $6 for beacher
seats and may be purchased from members of the cast and
crew or at die door.
Starring as the pig-proud Iowa fanner and his wife, Abel
and Melissa Frake, are five-year veteran Chris Cafbrcl and
three-year veteran Julie Powell.
Nicole Marling, who is in her fourth year with SST, plays
the Frake's daughter, Margy, who is a young girl looking for
love anywhere but on an Iowa farm. She finds her soulmate
in the brash, cynical reporter, Pat Gilbert, played by three-
year veteran Jonathan O'Toole.
Another pair of star-crossed lovers are the Frake's son
Wayne and the dancer Emily Arden, who won't let love stop
her from making it in the big time. They are played by
Justin Hunker and Ligaya deLeon, who are both in their
fourth years with SST. Tagging along with the pah* of lovers
are Wayne's true love Eleanor, played by Kate Anderson;
Margy's persistent hayseed boyfriend Harry, played by Jeff
Palun; the reporter's sidekick photographer Charlie, played by
Matt Stipe; and a man who loves his mincemeat. Judge Hep-
penstahl, played by Nick Saadipour.
Joining choreographers Lindsay Hopkins and Katie Primm
in soft shoe, ballroom, jazz, tap and cakewalk dances are
Beth Turner, Lara Petredis, Ashley Mazurek, Jeff Lombardi,
Sean Kiely, Nick Crowther, Paul Waller and Jake Walcholz.
A singing group called the Fairtones is made up of Nick
Crowther, Joe StrickJer, Chad Hill and Jeff Palun.
Also cast in the show as various farmers, fair-goers and
performers and carnival vendors are Allison Kemohan, Grant
Larson, Scott Ward, Katie Fowler, Sara Sevits, Caitlin Ber-
CONTINUED on page 5
Foster parents
open their home,
w
hearts to kids
who need help
by YVONNE GAY
News-Times reporter
Patty and Steve McFadden are
perfectly aware that one day, they
will wake up, and one of their children will be gone.
The couple's children are brought
to them as teenagers and toddlers,
and some of them may stay for two
weeks or a couple of months before
moving on.
"We have been doing this for •
few yean," Patty said, in her own
hurried manor of speech that could
be interpreted as nerves, but is
mainly out of habit, "We've had
eight children since the summer of
1998...This is the way the Lord
blessed us."
Chaotic could be one first impression a visitor might get when
entering the McFaddens' home.
Barking dogs, two fussy toddlers
and three chatty teenagers paint a
rather confusing, not to mention
noisy, picture.
But there's always soother visit,
which could place a mother and
daughter quieUy on a couch, going
over science homework, while
teenagers gather around a table in
the kitchen, supervising a toddler's
afternoon meal.
Both »BtimrinM could lend themselves to almost any femily; but the
McFaddens, and many others like
them we special. They are foster
families.
"I orn't have children." Patty said
candidly, finding a apace on the
couch and making herself comfortable. On this particular day. all five
children, including 21-year-old Hill-
ary, who was visiting bar foster
E and dad that day. huddled
■elves inside the west Mate
t home's small living room and
listened tentadvely at their foster
parents spoke openly.
"We think every lad has a special
purpose," Steve said, politely '
rupting his wife. "It's scary for them
when they come in... And it's hard to
let them go. Their leaving is like a
death to us...The important thing is
that they have a safe place to be.
About 90 percent of the children
placed in foster homes have been
abused in some way. They can talk
to us. They like our youth pastor, so
they can talk to him...Twelve Inc.. is
a great support system, you can get
a hold of them anytime."
The Twelve Inc., with locations
in Elyria, Toledo and Cleveland, is a
foster parenting agency that provides group home programs, specialized and therapeutic foster care
programs, independent living programs and adoption services. Now in
its 36th year, the organization prides
itself on the belief that "every child
has the right to a healthy family."
The Elyria office, located on Gulf
Road, shews no outward signs of
humble beginnings. Originally,
founders Robert Sprague and Laurie
Irwin-Stockle worked out ot
Sprague's garage before moving
into a two-room office several years
later. For the last six yean. The
Twelve has made its home inside a
newly remodeled church which provides plenty of office and meeting
spaces. And a large picture wall on
die first floor grabs visitors' attention; feces of children who have
passed through the doors over the
Patty and Stave McFadden
According to recruiter Irwin-
Stockle and regional director
Sprague, The Twelve is responsible
for placing 140 children this year,
and receives 40 to SO requests per
"We never have enough families," Sprague said. "We can only
pttoe a small fraction of children."
Irwin-Stockk said many of the
children she places range from new-
lo 18-year-olds, and some
come from families where allegations of abuse or neglect have been
made. In other cases, she said large
families must be separated before
they can be placed, adding to feelings of helplessness and grief.
"Although we don't work with
children who have (physical) health
problems, any child taken from their
biological parent is going to suffer
emotional drain," Irwin-Stockle explained. "A lot of children may
blame themselves for what's happened. Older children a lot of times
are afraid to get attached. They
think, 'why should someone else accept me when my own family
doesn't?'"
To help alleviate feelings of despair. The Twelve often encourages
foster parents to work with the birth
family. This helps the child understand thatitisOKiobeapartof
two families.
"Our goal is to reunite families,
that was much different a couple
years ago regarding all Ohio foster
care organizations." Sprague explained. The policy, developed by
the Ohio Foster Care Association,
focuses on placing a child back with
CONTINUED on pane 2
Bike rider
hopes to aid
AIDS fight
by ERIK YORKE
News-Times reporter
AIDS is a deadly disease that affects millions world-wide, but a Marion L. Steele High School alumnus
hopes that Amherst residents can
help reduce that number.
Jeannette Brugger, Steele class of
1998 and current senior at New
York University, is participating in
a 500-mile charity bicycle ride. Proceeds go to fond AIDS research.
The ride will take place from August 20-26, beginning in Fairbanks,
Alaska, and ending in Anchorage,
Alaska. Riders pay their own way to
the ride and must all raise a minimum of $3,400 to be able to participate. Brugger has raised $1,900 so
far and hopes that the people of Amherst can help her.
"Although I'm not direcdy affected by AIDS through anyone I
know at this time, it's a very important issue because it affects so many
of us," said Brugger. "More than
430,000 Americans have died from
AIDS in the last 19 yean."
An urban design and architecture
major, Brugger is new to this level
of charity work. She registered for
the ride in December and has been
training and raising money for the
ride since that time.
Once in Alaska, Brugger and the
other riders will begin the six-day
bicycle ride. Along the way, there
will be occasional rest stops and
tented areas set up by the ride crew
for the riders to stop for the night
There are a number of ways to
donate. One way is lo visit the ride's
web-site at www.vaccineridexvg.
There it is possible to make a credit
card donation using Brugger's rider
Also on the web-site it is possible
to print out a donation font which
can be mailed with a check. Yet
another way is to call Ann Brugger
at (440)233-7343 to arrange to get a
«fr«mfrw form.
Donations are sent direcdy to _e
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research
Center in New Yort, the Emory
Vaccine Center atEi__?Uoiv__ty
and the UCLA AIDS !_*-__
For
Medina and fJamual Robertson
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