Amherst News-Times, 2002-01-09

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Local man fights for hospital — Page 6        Schools to lose some cash — Pao^ 7
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Short jog was good rs
to Olympic torch beat
Taking the oath
Members of city council are sworn in for the
two-year term beginning this year. Newest member Nick Brusky, far left, is sworn in among his
fellow at-large council members, Nancy Brown,
center and David Kukucka. Doing the honors is
newly elected Oberlin Municipal Court Judge
Tom Januzzi.
Above: The city's ward council members are Cowger (ward 2) and Steve P'Simer (ward 3). Be-
sworn into office. From left to right they are Jen- low, Kathy Litkovitz takes the oath as the city's
nifer Wasilk (ward 4), Terry Traster (ward 1), Ed     treasurer as her granddaughters look on.
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by DIANA HOUGLAND
N-T sports reporter
On Tuesday, Jan. 2, Amherst resident Christopher Park jogged two-
tenths of a mile on Fulton Road in
Cleveland in about two minutes.
And while it doesn't sound like
much of a run, for the Nordson employee it will be a huge memory.
Park was one of more than 11,500
people who will at one time or
another, help carry the Olympic
torch across the country to its final
destination. Salt Lake City, on Feb.
8.
"I'm not one to like a lot of publicity," Park said after his turn at
transporting the flame, "but I felt
quite honored to do this. I felt honored to even be nominated with the
other people.*'
Park's opportunity to participate
in the 2002 Winter Olympics began
early in 2001 when his wife, Kelly,
wrote a letter nominating her husband. This year's theme for the essays was inspiration, and Kelly's
statement opened the door for Park.
"I would like to nominate my
husband to be an Olympic torch relay member," her letter began.
"Christopher has inspired many in
his life to be as hard working and
dedicated as himself."
"Chris is an amateur triathlete,"
the letter continued. "Chris has
completed  four  ironman  distance
Christopher Park
events. He trains for triathalons as if
he were going for the gold. He has
the integrity and heart of a champion. Chris has lived an exemplary
life. His spirit shows and has been
contagious to others.  Christopher
Park  has earned  this  honorable
CONTINUED on page 2
Residents asked to join
reading of popular book
Folks at the Amherst Public Library hope that residents will be
stopping each other on the street and
in the grocery store to talk about
Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the next few months.
The library is participating in a
reading program called North Coast
Neighbors Share A Book, in which
area residents will be encouraged to
read the same book and then participate in both formal and informal
discussions about it The book they
have chosen is "To Kill a
Mockingbird."
"To Kill a Mockingbird' is a
very accessible book," said Judy
Dworkin, the director of the Amherst library. She said that the novel
contains many compelling social
issues to which readers can relate
and discuss such as racism.
The program itself, Dworkin said,
is modeled after similar programs
that have taken place in large cities
such as Chicago and Seattle. She
said (hat she hopes Amherst readers
take to the program and attend the
organized discussion groups as well
as speak about the book in impromptu discussions that may take
place anywhere.
"It's a program that's been tried
in several other cities and has been
very successful," Dworkin said.
She credits the success of the
program in other cities to a recent
resurgence in the interest to read.
"I personally think we have
Oprah (Winfrey) to thank for it,"
Dworkin said of the reason why
people are reading books again.
The program begins this month
and will continue through .April,
culminating on National Library
Week, April 14-20. In addition to
.Amherst, other area libraries are
participating, Dworkin said, include
Cleveland Public Libraries and the
Cuyahoga County library syslem.
Interested readers can pick up a
copy of Harper Lee's only novel at
the Amherst Public Library. There
they will be able to either purchase
or check the book out. The library
will have 40 total copies, 20 for
readers to check out from the library
and 20 for them to purchase at "a
reasonable price," Dworkin said.
Helping out with the program will
be the library's new reading advisor,
Kay Koler. According to Dworkin,
Koler will personally assist anyone
with questions about either the
Share A Book program or any other
reading matter.
Readers interested in the program
are asked to register at the circulation desk. The library will have a
formal .discussion group in the
spring. The date and time have not
yet been determined. Dworkin said
she also encourages readers to speak
about the novel among themselves.
"We're going to try to get people
reading and talking about what they
read," Dworkin'said.
Long-time hobby connects
woman with business role
by ERIK YORKE
News-Times reporter
Peggy Woolen has finally transformed her more than 20-year-old
hobby into a way to earn a living.
Wooten opened The Collectible
Connection in South Amherst a
month ago, a place where she sells
collectible items ranging from Elvis
Presley dolls to Chewbacca cookie
jars.
"It was always something I
wanyd to do," Wooten said. "I've
always collected things myself. I've
been married 28 years and I've had
collections even before that."
Wooten, who lives in Wellington
with her husband Michael, said that
she has always loved to collect
things, especially Coca-Cola figurines and ornaments as well as Betty
Boop collectibles. She said that she
has always scoured flea markets in
search of unusual items.
CONTINUED on paga 2