Amherst News-Times, 1997-01-29

              Community calendar noted — Page 12
ISports
coverage of all teams — Pages 6-7
Amherst News-Time!
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Wednesday. January 29. 1997
Amherst, Ohio
Burglars beware:
neighborhood
crime watch here
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
Do you ever get the feeling somebody is watching you? If you
are a criminal targeting Amherst residences, you may get that feeling a lot more often in the near future.
Patrolman Dan Makruski of the Amherst Police Department is
in the process of garnering public support for a Neighborhood
Watch program in the city of Amherst and plans to start advertising on the local cable channel this week for area residents who
may wish to take advantage of such a program.
Makruski says "a lot of people who live in Amherst don't think
of it as a place where a lot of criminal activity exists, but if you
read the police reports, you find there is a significant amount, and I
believe such a program could help us cut down on crime."
Chief William Hall recendy approached the department with the
idea after conversations with citizens who wanted to find out if
Amherst had a Neighborhood Watch program in place. The city
had tried a similar program in the past, but it never really got off
the ground, according to Makruski, but Hall felt it should be given
another chance.
Hall asked for a volunteer to research the idea and Makruski,
who has been on the force just seven months, said he would be
glad to help out.
Makruski said his interest was piqued further after his girlfriend
pointed out an article in Good Housekeeping about the best police
departments in the country. "One of the best Neighborhood Watch
programs also listed in the article was in Dublin, Ohio, so I contacted their department and got some preliminary information," he
says. "They gave me some basic information as to how their prog-
CONTINUED on page 8
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Little angel
Leave it to the kids at St. Joseph's school to figure out the best   advantage of a recent snowfall on the playground and found that
way to enjoy the inclement weather. This little snow angel is taking   making angels can be a fun way to vent excess energy.
Family battles cancer; medical debts mount
by BILL ROSS
Newa-Times reporter
People get sick. It's a fact of life,
but most of the time they get better.
But now and then nature targets
someone for something a little more
drastic — something they may not
be able to overcome
It is that land of sickness that
takes over whole families and tests
their very foundations, for when a
life-threatening illness strikes, it
doesn't stop with just the victim.
And for one Amherst woman, it has
meant reevaluating the entire course
of her life, after her husband was
diagnosed with two forms of cancer.
Tami and Tom Roseman landed
in Amherst by what they considered
to be a lucky fluke. They had met,
fallen in love, married and had their
first of three boys while stationed in
the Air Force together at Wright-
Patterson base in Dayton, between
1983 and 1985.
Immediately after having their
first son Charles "Chuckie," Tom
went into a master's program for
electrical engineering through the
Air Force, and they were assigned to
Eglin in Fort Walton Beach in
Florida.
Life in Florida was good — some
of 1'ami's family was there and it
was in Florida that the Rosemans
had their second son, Tommy. But
for several reasons, they had to
Sandstone
Express
has new
wheels
Senior citizens in Amherst will be
pleased to find out that the Amherst
Area Office on Aging has recently
purchased a new 1997 Mercury
Tracer station wagon to be used as
its "Sandstone Express" vehicle.
Margaret Wright, who is the
coordinator for the Meals-on-
Wheels program at the office, said
"We try to replace the vehicles after
about 50,000 miles, because they
are small cars and get a lot of wear
and tear."
The new vehicle replaces a two-
year-old Ford Escort that was put to
good use in the Sandstone Express
program, which provides rides for
area seniors who are unable to get to
their appointments by other means
CONTINUED on page 11
The Rosemans pose for their 1995 Christmas
card. Although Tom had already been diagnosed
with the second of two cancers, he was still rob
ust and the family was keeping its hopes high
that after continued treatment, he would be
healthy.
make a decision whether or not to
stay in the Air Force.
Tom was at his 10-year mark in
the service and a captain (Tami had
since left to become a full-time
mom), and although he had his mas
ter's, he was essentially a desk-
jockey and was not really using his
talents to their fullest
"What really swayed our decision
though." says Tami, "was that
Tom's fatter hart a ran form of
muscular dystrophy, which was
causing a rapid deterioration in his
health.'' His mother needed some
help in caring for her husband in
Mentor, so Tom decided to find a
new job.
Tom's skills quickly landed him a
job at Plumbrook, a NASA facility
in Sandusky, and he moved from
Florida to his parents' home in
Mentor Tami stayed behind for a
month to help out her sister, who
was about to give birth.
One day, Tom's car broke down
in Amherst during his daily commute. He remarked to a co-worker
about discovering Amherst. The coworker told him he was about to
move out of a house in Hidden Valley soon, which he would then be
able to rent, if Tom was interested
And they have lived in Amherst
ever since.
A year later, in 1991, their third
son, Robert, was bom, and life was
going well.
But in 1994, Tom's contract ran
out with Sverdrup at Plumbrook.
That was also the year his father
died, after suffering for years, and
for a while things were not quite so
rosy.
As luck would have it, though,
another contractor who had been at
Plumbrook familiar with Tom's
skills snatched him up.
Tom became a manager for Gil-
crest Electrical Supply Company in
Brooapara — but he warned muse.
When they had lived in Florida,
the Rosemans had visited a couple
of movie houses that were more like
a theater and a restaurant combined.
Tami explains, "At a place called
the 'Picture Show,' they had a tiered
theater where you could sit at a table
and order food from a waitress.
Another  place,  called  Suds   'n
Cinema, served alcohol — we'd
never seen anything like it."
Tom had noticed that Bob Hava-
nas, who had owned the Amherst
Cinema for years, had a for-sale
sign outside; one day Tom came
home and excitedly approached
Tami with his idea: "Wouldn't it be
great if we could open up a place
like 'Picture Show?'"
Tami thought that if they were
going to open a family business
while Tom still worked his day job
and both of them juggled parental
duties for three kids, a cinema
seemed like a pretty good way to
go.
They borrowed money from both
sides of the family to gather up
enough cash to buy the Amherst
Cinema from Havanas, who had
closed it down four years eeriier.
Havanas had been forced out of business by the low prices being offered at a  newly-built multiplex
CONTINUED on page 3
New class offerings
implemented for kids
under technology
curriculum at MLS
by GLEN MIXER
Marilyn Smart, one of the drivers for the Office
on Aging's Sandstone Express piogram, gets
ready to rol with a new Mercury Tracer to
used for the daily rounds.
be
Newa-Times reporter
Pending school board approval,
Marion L. Steele High School will
replace its industrial arts program
with a two-year technology exploration curriculum designed for students not taking college preparatory
or vocational courses.
Beginning in the fall, freshmen
will be required lo pick six to eight
tninicourses ranging from electronic
communication to aerodynamic
technology. A total of 14 subjects,
or educational modules, will be offered, according to high school prin
cipal Robert Boynton.
The board approved implementing the first two years of the proposed four-year phased-in program
during a special meeting that followed its Jan. 13 organizational
meeting. Ronald Yacobozzi was
elected president and Carol JaJack
vice president during the meeting.
Yacobozzi. last year's vice president, succeeds Sandra Freedman.
Until long term financing for the
program can be developed, tbe
board chose to approve a technology
exploration course for freshmen beginning this fall and an advanced
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