Area Readers Share Reflections As 2011 Comes To A Close
Area residents had much to be thankful for in 2011, and many of them chose to share their blessings and successes with Mirror readers.

Volunteers, Teachers Key To JA’s Success
Junior Achievement appreciates the kindness and generosity of the nearly 900 volunteers, primarily from our local business community, who presented Junior Achievement’s Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Career Development education programs to over 23,000 northwestern Ohio K-12 students during the year.
Also, thank you to the more than 1,100 school teachers for welcoming Junior Achievement into their classrooms. Together, we are empowering young people to own their economic success.
Jeff Bosch
President
Junior Achievement of Northwestern Ohio

Art Gallery Owner Grateful For Support
I would like to say “thank you” to all of our customers. We had a amazing grand opening and amazing support from the community and customers as we moved to a new, larger location this year. It has really exceeded my expectations.
I would also love to thank my parents, husband and my wonderful employees. I would not have been able to do this without all of them.
Stacy Owen, Artist/Owner
Copper Moon Studio Gallery & Gifts

Generous Donations Aid Diabetes Research
I am so blessed for all the donations to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation I have received over the last five years of Walking for the Cure. It is with this generosity that I am certain we will find a cure one day.
Macey Mauriello
Toledo

Investment Seminars Lead To Donation
Seymour & Associates, a general agency of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, held two “Pearls of Wisdom: Women in Investing” seminars at the beginning of November.
We had a wonderful response to the seminars and hosted more than 50 attendees.
On behalf of those attendees and Seymour & Associates, MassMutual will be making a $2,000 donation to the Northwest Ohio Susan G. Komen Foundation. Thank you to all who attended.
Jenn Jacobs
Marketing Coordinator, Brokerage Administrator
Seymour & Associates

Clothing Closet Grateful For Abundant Donations
We have been so blessed by all the people who have donated clothing and items to Angel’s Arms Clothing Closet. A big thank you to all the volunteers who are the reason our ministry can show God’s love and provide for our community.
We have been so blessed over the last couple of months with an overflow of donations.
Chris Mauriello
Angel’s Arms Clothing Closet

Local Men Help Veterans Receive Benefits From VA
My husband, Steven Wise, helps veterans receive the “aid and attendance” benefit from the Veterans Administration. He typically does not toot his own horn so I am going to do it for him.
Seventy percent of what he does is for free. He and his associate Jim Greer have helped over 1,200 veterans in the Northwest Ohio area, which amounts to approximately $17 million going to these individuals on an annual basis.
This is a benefit that is available to veterans or their widows who are looking to move into assisted living communities. This valuable benefit, which can range from approximately $1,000 to $2,500 monthly, has been around since the 1950s, but not all veterans may know about it.
Rhonda L. Wise
Vice President
Beacon Associates

Students In Action Serve Community
I am blessed to work with caring advisors and Students in Action leaders at 24 area high schools who are organizing days of service for their classmates, arranging food drives for struggling families and visiting care facilities to brighten the days of senior citizens.
We are told that our national education system is in crisis. While many local schools are experiencing revenue declines and constrictions on both staff and time that restrict access to programs, SIA helps ensure that the education offered to students extends beyond curriculum standards taught in classrooms.
Data indicate that at the end of the 2010-11 school year, with just 16 schools, these students made an impact – a $2.2 million impact. Those 16 schools accounted for well over 103,000 service hours.
I can’t wait to see how much that number has grown by the end of the 2011-12 school year.
Kristina White
Community Impact Director
Leadership Toledo

Mentors Encourage High School Student
The staff at Leadership Toledo has helped me in so many ways, one of which was encouraging me to apply for the Better Business Bureau Student of Integrity Scholarship, which I recently received.
They have been a true blessing through my years in high school and I thank them for all of the support!
Lauren Diehl
Perrysburg High School

Volunteers Distribute Nutritious Meals
Mobile Meals is most grateful for our hundreds of volunteers who deliver meals to our clients. Every weekday 38-76 volunteers are out in the community delivering meals to those in need of proper nutrition.
The reasons for our clients’ need for meals vary, but the volunteer is the one person who delivers not only that bag of food but also a smile and a warm greeting – often times the only contact with the outside world that this person may have during the day.
Volunteers are also now assembling our Weekender bags each week in our kitchen – another blessing for Mobile Meals.
So we salute our amazing 460-plus volunteers – we couldn’t do it without them.
Carolyn Fox
Mobile Meals of Toledo

Group Offers Support To Vision-Impaired
We are so excited how the Frogtown Low Vision Support Group has grown this past year. The group has become such an integral part of our lives that we would be lost without it. The members are fun and energetic and a delight to be around. May 2012 be as amazing as 2011.
Paul (Rocky) and Jan Rachow
Frogtown Low Vision
Support Group

Donors, Volunteers Saving Lives
Life Connection of Ohio is grateful for the incredible selflessness of our volunteers, who promote organ and tissue donation in our community.
We are also appreciative of the generosity of Northwest Ohio residents, who made a huge milestone possible to achieve in 2011 – 5 million registered donors in Ohio. One person has the power to save eight lives through organ donation and 50 more through tissue donation.
Kara Steele
Life Connection of Ohio

Hippotherapy Program Celebrates Five Years
Mercy Children’s Hospital’s hippotherapy program has just celebrated its fifth successful year and a huge part of that success is due to TimberWolff Stables in Whitehouse.
Hippotherapy is a form of therapy which uses the movement of the horse to help children with cerebral palsy, autism and various other neurological disorders meet their challenges every day.
TimberWolff Stables has opened its beautiful eight-acre facility and its amazing horses so that we can provide this therapy to children who need this form of specialized care. The Wolff family – Tom, Patty, Jordan and Whitney – has provided hundreds of hours of volunteer service to help these children.
In addition, there are now over 30 local volunteers who also support our hippotherapy program – retirees, college students, horse enthusiasts and others, all with big hearts and inspiring dedication.
Additionally, we are grateful for the many donors who support the program financially. I thank each and every one of my volunteers for their passion, hard work and dedication to help the success of our hippotherapy program and, of course, the amazing children we serve.
Tracey Lewis
Physical Therapist
Mercy Children’s Hospital

Project iAm Helps Children With Autism
Those of us at Project iAm are so grateful to all of our supporters, volunteers and families for the success we have had in 2011. We are so thankful for the fantastic events we have been able to give the community and the great confidence Northwest Ohio has had in us.
We have raised and distributed more money in 2011 to families living within the autism spectrum than ever before.
Now embarking on our fifth year, we are once again proud to announce Acoustics for Autism on March 4, 2012, at the Village Idiot in Maumee. We are also thankful to the Shops at Fallen Timbers for embarking on a new relationship with us and hope to have future events at that venue soon.
The warm thoughts and generosity from everyone in this community has been the basis for our success and we will continue to stand by our mission and help area families. On behalf of all of the children we have been able to help, thank you all so much.
Nicole Khoury
Project iAm

Wizards Softball Teams Compete Nationally
We had a great year last year with our 10U team being the Amateur Softball Association Ohio state champions and attending the ASA nationals.
Our 12U Gold team went to the ASA nationals, the 16U team went to the ASA Northern nationals, and the 12U Gold Elite went to the ASA Eastern nationals. In addition, a 14U team went to the USSSA World Series.
Martin Drain, Director
Wizards Softball

Maumee City Council Approves Resolution To Oppose Centralized Income Tax Proposal
BY NANCY GAGNET — MIRROR REPORTER
The Maumee public information committee has recommended that city council pass a resolution to oppose a proposal that would allow the state to centralize collection of municipal income tax.
Committee chair and Maumee City Council member Tim Pauken told members of council at their December 19 meeting that the municipal income tax proposal would have a negative financial effect on the city.
“Due to the many taxes we collect and the complexities involved, as well as the waiting period and the poor timing that such a proposal could have in our economic recovery, we feel that such a proposal could only have a detrimental effect on our financial situation here in Maumee,” he said.
The Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, state tax commissioner Joe Testa and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor have expressed support for the plan, which calls for the state to collect city and village income taxes, then redistribute it to local municipalities.
The public information committee discussed the issue at its September 22 and December 14 meetings.
“While the intended purpose of the legislation would make it easier and more uniform to do business in Ohio, the drawbacks far outnumber the pluses,” Pauken said.
The Northwest Ohio Tax Commissioners Association also held a special meeting to discuss the subject on October 28 at the Maumee Indoor Theater.
Municipal tax personnel from communities including Oak Harbor, Bowling Green, Gibsonburg, Rossford, Akron, Tontogany, Sylvania, Port Clinton and Maumee were in attendance, and none expressed support for the plan.
In addition, state Reps. Barbara Sears and Randy Gardner also expressed doubt regarding the proposal, Pauken said.
City law director Sheilah McAdams has said that it might be unconstitutional for the state to collect income tax on behalf of the city, Pauken said.
“It is believed that there may be a challenge in the courts if legislation was approved relative to municipal income tax collection by the state,” Pauken explained.
By an unanimous vote, council approved the recommendation to draft a resolution opposing the centralized municipal tax proposal.