Whitehouse Girl Whisked Away For Make-A-Wish Disney Trip
BY KAREN BERGER— MIRROR REPORTER
“This is huge!” Jessica Baker said, sliding into the large limousine.
Holding a still-unnamed bear and wearing a Make-A-Wish T-shirt, fuchsia tights and matching skirt, the 12-year-old Whitehouse girl was joined by her family early November 28 as they prepared to head to Florida for a trip of a lifetime – Disney World.
Jessica, who was adopted by Heather and Ralph Baker, often doesn’t look like she has medical issues because of her constant smile.
But Heather notes that because Jessica’s birth mother drank and used drugs while pregnant, her daughter has fetal alcohol syndrome, along with juvenile diabetes, epilepsy, autism and a broken chromosome.
“She has seizures and developmental delays. Her brain slows down every two minutes,” Heather said. “But she doesn’t across that way – it’s amazing what a bubbly, joyful person she is.”
While she’s a seventh-grader at Anthony Wayne Junior High, Jessica needs to nap for a few hours to get enough energy to make it through the day. A weakened immune system has made minor injuries into major issues, such as when a scratch on her arm became infected and landed her in the hospital.
It’s always been Jessica’s wish to go to Disney World at Christmas time.
“The whole house is excited. Jessica has always wanted to see the Disney Christmas parade,” Heather said. The parade is being filmed over two days this week.
The family will stay at Give Kids the World, a 70-acre resort specifically for kids with life-threatening illnesses.
Thursday is always Christmas at the resort, and Hasbro donates a gift for each child – even siblings. The resort has its own restaurants, mini golf and free ice cream all day.
“Mint chocolate chip ice cream!” exclaims Jessica. Her brothers Josiah, 9, and Andrew, 7, concur.
The Bakers will spend three days at Disney World and two days at Universal Studios.
Ralph is pleased that the Make-A-Wish Foundation is providing a dream come true for his daughter – something he didn’t think they’d be able to do, due to medical bills.
“In a world where people don’t take time for people with delays, this is a place where, for a whole week, it’s all about giving these kids love,” Heather said.
The mission of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. For more information, visit www.wish.org.

Community Center Usage Increases, Trustees Agree To Help Pay Utilities
BY AMY MANLEY — MIRROR REPORTER
Monclova Township trustees were treated to good news about the township throughout the November 21 meeting, offering many reasons to be thankful during the Thanksgiving week meeting.
Monclova Historical Foundation president Diane Ohns offered an organized, well-documented overview of accomplishments for 2011, noting the valuable services provided at the Monclova Community Center. Activities taking place at the center ranged from naturalization ceremonies to food banks and child care.
Use of the center is up with over 1,500 room rentals taking place in 2011. Four permanent leases and cost-saving measures kept the center running efficiently. The 2012 budget and plans for the future were reviewed in conjunction with a request for continued assistance with utilities.
After a brief discussion regarding grants and the need to pursue a revaluation of historical foundation rental properties for possible savings on property taxes, trustees approved support of the foundation and community center by paying 80 percent of utilities, up to $13,000.
Additionally, although the vote had not been certified by the Lucas County Board of Elections, unofficial numbers indicate the passage of the Monclova Township police levy, with 2,548 votes for the levy and 2,481 against it.
Lucas County Sheriff’s Office representative Sgt. Matt Luettke thanked those present for the support of the sheriff’s office through passage of the levy.
Trustees approved a motion to conclude service of members of the Monclova Township police commission and thank them for their service with an invitation to the holiday luncheon.
Monclova Township small business owner Wade Smith of Whitehouse Daylily Farm shared information about the REAP Award for rural energy enhancement that his business earned – one of only 900 in the country to be awarded. The grant supports the process of alternative energy.
Smith is building a prototype solar thermal system that collects sun into solar panels, superheating them to approximately 230 degrees, and then storing the heat in sand vaults under the green house to be used as supplemental energy.
The prototype helps address the issue of fresh food supply in the winter with sources other than cost-prohibitive natural gas or propane. It can be expanded upon, making it attractive for future growth and retrofitting current structures.
Finally, guest speaker Ford Weber, president and CEO of the Lucas County Improvement Corporation, offered information about the organization’s primary focus this year with business outreach and assistance.
He cited the local example of Johnson Control – not only with additional jobs created but with cutting-edge stop-start battery production technology valuable to the auto industry to help it achieve environmental and fuel economy standards.
LCIC findings indicate that obtaining working capital, quality of work force, succession plans for business, and transportation and logistic needs for exporting goods remain challenging for businesses.
However, Weber said LCIC has successfully helped a large number of businesses and continues to recommend services like the small business development center at the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce that specialize in helping companies with cash management to get businesses in better positions to be bankable.
The LCIC will be calling on Monclova Township businesses to offer assistance and determine needs for the township.
The trustees also took the following action during the meeting:
• Approved partial reimbursement for the Monclova Township Firefighters Association annual banquet and awards of $2,500.
• Heard update on zoning compliance issues from zoning administrator Eric Wagner.
• Authorized township administrator Harold Grim to set up an e-mail marketing account with Stream Send in conjunction with the township website. Grim assured trustees that the privacy policy will be reviewed.
• Learned that the audit conference took place but audit results still have not been made public. Results will be offered as information becomes available.
• Approved a payroll contract with Padgett Small Business Pro.

The next regular meeting of the Monclova Township trustees will be on Monday, December 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the township building, 4335 Albon Rd.