Amherst News-Times, 1997-07-09

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SWAT band is new sensation — Page 8   Jamboree kicks off Friday — Page 6-7
Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, July 9, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
I
'Good guy' J<
Charboneai
gives kids liu
on the ballfields
by BILL ROSS
Former Indians great Joe Charboneau works with students at his baseball clinic last week.
News-Times reporter
He is a difficult man to talk
to, but for all the right reasons.
Joe Charboneau, owner of
Charboneau Baseball of North
Ridgcvillc and former Cleveland
Indians outfielder/designated
hitter, has just finished the first
of two four-day baseball camps
held at St. Joseph's Church
baseball fields, during which he
barely had enough time to catch
his breath.
Charboneau's dedication to
the kids, who range from seven
to 13 years old, is apparent at
the outset and he makes it a
point to ensure that each one
gets individualized instruction.
In 1980, Charboneau was
Rookie of the Year, and his love
lor the sport continues to this
day, as he coaches six different
day camps this summer (including the two in Amherst), as well
as working full-time as a coach
for the World Series Training
Center.
The day camps last for six
hours per day and Charboneau
said they are not for everybody.
"A kid has to really have a love
for baseball in order to do this,"
he explained. "But some, whom
I originally thought of as borderline, have turned around and re-
CONTINUED on page 2
Overcrowding remains issue for school board
The board of education gave its
strategic plan a boost by injecting
11 new steps to success into its
"Quest for Excellence 2000" program, including the effects of school
overcrowding.
The plan is revised annually lo
ensure the schools keep up with
legal, technical and cultural changes
that influence education. They were
developed by an administrative
committee prior to being presented
lo the board for its approval June
23.
As a part of the plan, the board
will continue to talk about the detrimental effects of overcrowding
within the school district on student
learning and performance.
It was the need to eliminate overcrowding that prompted the board to
place a 3.854 mill bond issue on the
ballot in May. Had it been approve
by voters, the bond issue would
have raised $16.7 million for the renovation of five school buildings
and the construction of aboul 40 ad
ditional classrooms.
The board may place the bond
issue on the ballot again on the
November general election (K-nding
action by the board.
The additional classroom space
would have eliminated overcrowding in the schools. School officials
students are unable to lejrrt
as much when they arc forced into
overcrowded classrooms.
School district enrollment is expected to continue growing by about
I(K) students annually through 20(H).
Without the extra class space,
school officials have said the district
may have lo implement split-day
sessions.
Other strategic plan changes
include:
• Development of a career passport for each 1 »8-^WHkMtting student. The passport is "required by
suite law and will include a grade
transcript, list of achievements and
awards, school  projects and other
relevant   information   that   can   be
shown to a potential employer.
• Create an ongoing training
program for safely awareness of Occupational Safety and Hcallh
Agency (OSHA) requirements.
• Promote recycling within all
school buildings lo educate students
on »hc f>cnc.fn« iT i-ncycling
• Meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations on the
upkeep of school district underground storage tanks by September
1998.
• Incorporate technology skills
into all phases of education.
• Encourage teachers to use instructional technology in all curriculum areas.
• Create a professional development team to help implement new
teacher licking requirements mandated by the state. The new requirements require additional education.
■ Revise the science curriculum
;md textbooks.
Whiskeyville' memories on stage
Stories of home, local troupes inspire theatrical writer
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
A man who grew up in Amherst and developed a passion
for theater while living here, is
now forming his own theater
company in Maine and has written, produced and directed an
Amherst-based play for its first
production.
Robert Savina is a 1972 graduate of Marion L. Steele High
School and his play, "Whiskeyville," is a story aboul an immigrant family living in Amherst
(which was also known as Whiskeyville in the bootleg days).
The father loses the family
farm in a card game at a bootleg
club and is killed, leaving a
mother and her two daughters to
fend for themselves.
The family meets up with a
band of gypsies and the story
unfolds from there.
'This play is taken from stories I heard my mother and auni
tell around the dining table as I
was growing up," Savina said. "I
wove them into my play and
added different scenes involving
hobos, a medicine man and
other interesting types."
"Whiskeyville" has also been
accepted as one of 174 productions chosen out of more than
500 entries to be part of the New
York Cily Theater Fringe
Festival.
The Fringe Festival celebrates
the diversity and unparallelled
growth of smaller local theaters
that are often eclipsed by much
larger Broadway-style
productions.
Savina moved lo Machias,
Maine, aboul iwo years ago after
spending almost 12 years in
New York. While in New York,
he was involved nol only in ihe-
Robert Savina
aier, bul in television and film
productions as well.
He is currently an instructor
in set desigi at the University of
Maine, and has formed his production company, the Acadia
Annex Theater Company with
Amy Waguespack, whom he
met while in graduate school al
Siony Brook.
The Acadia Annex Theater
project is named after the Acadia National Park, which is near
Machias and is the lasl undeveloped piece of coastline on the
Atlantic seaboard, according to
Savina. "It is a beautiful and
pristine area, so I 'annexed' it
for my own," he said wilh a
laugh.
Whiskeyville had been previously performed at Siony Brook
University in New York and received a great response. Waguespack suggested to Savina
thai they enter il in the Fringe
Festival, which unlike other
fringe festivals in the world,
used a selection process because
of the large number of entrants.
Savina came to Machias after
Waguespack had directed a
summer Shakespeare program
for kids there. She invited him lo
direct a program, and he liked
the area so much he stayed.
Machias is part of Washington County, with primary industries in blueberries and logging.
During the winter months, unemployment reaches 60 percent
afcd although the community
may suffer financially, it boasts
the greatest number of community theaters in Maine, according
to Savina.
"Machias has no movie theater, so people have always come
to the community theaters for
entertainment," he explains.
Savina hopes to keep his theater company independent from
the University of Maine because
he feels one loses control of the
projects when it becomes necessary to rely on a university's
backing.
"Part of ihe problem is the
money factor and having lo depend on bigger guys," Savina
explains. "Work-wise, we're going to friends and family and are
trying to maintain low overhead,
as opposed to New York City,
where we would be a li'Ue fish
in a big bowl."
He said the flip side is that the
basic concept of his company is
to keep a pipeline open to New
York without compromising
himself.
Savina was bom in Amherst,
first attending St Joe's and then
attending Marion L. Steele High
School, graduating in 1972. It
was in Amherst that he developed his love for theater and
CONTINUED on page 2
Rotary bestows
top honor on two
Scott, Sliman are named
Paul Harris Fellows
At an Amherst Rotary Club
awards banquet held on June 27,
two influential and respected Rotary
Club members were honored with
the highest award bestowed upon
Rotarians: the Paul Harris Fellow.
The dinner took place at the Panorama restaurant in Westlake, and
district governor Jim Smith presented retiring Rotary president
Nancy J. Scott and Peter Sliman, retired president of .Simian's Sales and
Service, with the prestigious honor.
The award is presented to those
who have shown outstanding service to the organization. Many of
the past recipients have also donated
sizable amounts to the Rotary, and
in some case (such as Sliman's) the
local Rotary chooses to donate a
sum in the Rotarian's behalf to Rotary International.
Scott not only was the first woman president in the Amhersl Rotary 's 59-year history, but its first female member. She joined in March
1988, several months after the Rotary and other service organizations
were mandated by law to accept
women.
"Oh, you can bet there was an uproar at first," said Scott. "But I have
since had wonderful support and
everyone has bent over backwards
to help me."
Since Walter G. Nord was the
first president of the Amherst Rotary when it was chartered in 1938.
perhaps it is fitting that its first woman president is also an employee
i of Nordson.
She lives in Elyria with her husband John and they have three
grown children who live in Huron.
Although Scott was asked to join
the Elyria Rotary four times prior to
be asked at the Amhersl Club, she
chose Amherst after being encouraged to do so by her Nordson
employers.
She is currently a project special-
Nancy Scott
ist in the purchasing department and
has also served as its community affairs manager in the past.
In order to become a Roiarian,
one must be a professional person
who has a classification. Scott's
classification is public relations.
Another example of a classification
would be a bank employee, who
might have a classification of trust
or loan department.
Sliman said he is the Amherst
Rotary's oldest member, having
joined in 1958. "When I started, I
was their youngest member ever,"
he added.
He had no idea the Paul Harris
'vllow was to be awarded to him at
the recent banquet and said his family, who accompanied him, kept the
news a secret
"I was beside myself," he explained. "It was just a great moment
— I couldn't even speak."
Sliman has served in many capac-
CONT1NUED on page 8