Anyway, 2009 was my 22nd here at The Journal. Talk about time flying by. One day, I’m a rookie reporter taking orders from legendary Sports Editor Jerry Nardiello — or at least the orders I can understand through his thick New York accent — and the next, I’m the most veteran reporter in the newsroom.
I can’t see myself doing anything else. I love this job. And I love the people even more. That’s why I’ve never left.
Thanks for a great year, and please keep reading and calling with story ideas.
My last assignment of 2009: Name my Top 10 Most Intriguing People of the Year.
Tom Rapp
It always bothers me when halfway through an interview, someone tells me: “Let me be honest with you.”
I always want to ask: “So you haven’t been honest before?”
Tom Rapp always tells the truth. Or at least how he feels.
I spent three days with Rapp as part of the newspaper’s monthlong cancer series.
I enjoyed our conversations because he answered each question with the same bravery he displayed during his battle against cancer.
Rapp, 60, diagnosed with incurable cancer about a year ago, admits the disease is winning.
What concerns Rapp even more than the cancer is the thought of leaving his 84-year-old mother, Norma Rapp, and his longtime partner, Gary Sheffield, behind.
Rapp has spent much of his adult life helping others. He volunteers twice a week at the Franklin Area Community Services food pantry, and 18 years ago, along with Sheffield, founded Arms of Love, an organization that assists AIDS and HIV patients in his hometown of Springfield.
In his words: "I'm just waiting to die. Believe me, this isn't the way I thought I'd go. But it doesn't always work out the way you planned. We cannot question God. I'm not afraid to die."
Rhonda Koenig
Rhonda Koenig, director of nursing services at Atrium Medical Center, was reluctant at first to discuss her brush with death.
But the more she talked about the events of July 23, 2008, the more comfortable she became.
After Koenig drove from her Lebanon home to Atrium, she stood near her office around 8:30 a.m.
That’s when her day — and her life — changed forever.
She felt a “ping” in the back of her head, which she found out later, was the beginning of a brain aneurysm.
She was flown to University Hospital in Cincinnati, where she had surgery. She returned to work two months later.
In her words: "This means I must do something big. I don't know what it is, but He has a plan for me."
Seth Bair
I’ve already added Seth Bair to my “people to watch” list.
Seth, 13, a seventh-grader at Valley View Middle School, took more than $300 of his birthday money and money he had saved to purchase groceries and donate them to Hope House, Middletown’s homeless shelter, for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
When I interviewed Seth, along with his parents, Jim and Tammy, at the shelter, he almost seemed embarrassed by the attention. He told me his “help others first” approach was learned from the late Rev. Randy Wallace at Poasttown First Church of God, where he and his parents are members.
In his words: "It made me feel good. It was the Lord's blessing and the right thing to do."
Greg Kirby
Greg Kirby is a character.
When he walked into The Journal’s office and said he was the one who found unidentified metal pieces 30 years ago in Blue Ball, I jumped at the chance to interview him.
He didn’t disappoint.
In 1979, Kirby, then a 21-year-old minding his own business, found himself embroiled in the middle of controversy and UFO speculation when he watched a white-hot mystery object fall in Blue Ball.
He said that for years he told everyone who asked that he turned over all the pieces he found to Federal Aviation Administration officials.
Stories about the fireball mystery made headlines for several days in The Journal, Dayton Daily News and Cincinnati Enquirer. Kirby was interviewed by three local television stations and received a phone call from ABC News in New York.
In his words: "It was a mystery with capital letters."
Darren Brown
The assembly at Rosa Parks Elementary School took on an even more important meaning as Elmon Prier, walking slowly following back surgery, made his way onto the stage.
Middletown High School graduate Darren Brown, in town to present the awards he finances as part of Rosa Parks Day, became emotional when he introduced Prier.
He buried his tear-stained face on Prier’s shoulders, and the men — two fine examples of the local school system — gave a long embrace.
Prier mentored Brown since he was a sixth-grader at McKinley Elementary and Prier was the school’s football coach.
In his words: "If I can make it, they can make it."
Sandy LaPierre
Twenty-six days after Fitzgerald Flowers and Gifts and the building’s apartments were destroyed by fire, Smoka, dubbed the “miracle cat,” was found buried under the rubble.
I was there when Sandy LaPierre was reunited with her cat.
LaPierre and Smoka were living in a second-floor apartment when the flower shop caught fire on Aug. 10. LaPierre and the others escaped, and when no one found Smoka, LaPierre figured her cat died in the blaze.
But on Sept. 4, workers from Stark Wrecking Co. found Smoka, badly dehydrated, amidst the debris they were clearing.
The story made national news.
In her words: "She means the world to me."
Dan Munson
When Barn 16 burned to the ground on Dec. 5 at Lebanon Raceway, longtime trainer Dan Munson lost his clothes, his racing equipment, and worst of all, his five horses.
In all, two grooms — Ronnie Williams of Lebanon and James “Turtle” Edwards of East St. Louis, Ill. — and 45 horses perished in the fire.
As I interviewed Munson in Barn 7 days after the fire, he seemed lost. While other trainers jogged their horses in the early morning, Munson stood and watched.
In his words: "I don't know what to do. I'll live and die right here. I eat, drink and sleep this."
John Dearth
I love getting phone calls from Sheila Baker, secretary at Chamberlain Middle School in Carlisle. She always has great story ideas.
She told me about John Dearth, a former Carlisle High School student who was drafted into the Marines during the Vietnam War. He never graduated.
Until June 6, 2009.
Dearth, 63, a retired welder, said graduating became more important after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he wanted to be a role model to his grandchildren.
In his words: "I hope those boys look at me and say, 'If Pawpaw was able to graduate, then we can graduate.' I want them to look up to me."
Roy Barton
If you want to know anything about a town, spend a few minutes in its barbershop.
And if you’re really lucky, a guy like Roy Barton will be standing beside one of the chairs.
Barton, 87, walked out of Dave’s Barber Shop, 2323 Central Ave., for the last time on Feb. 18. I’m thankful I was there.
Barton’s last two customers were Knight Goodman and Dan Humphreys, themselves Middletown legends.
When he put down his scissors for the last time, it ended a barber career that spanned 60 years.
In his words: "I've been a very, very lucky person to be here this long. Thank you, Middletown."
Margaret and Owsley Crowe
In this business, at least where I sit, there’s nothing more enjoyable than spending an afternoon talking to couples celebrating wedding anniversaries.
On Feb. 4, I drove to Eaton and interviewed Margaret and Owsley Crowe, formerly of Middletown, who were celebrating their 70th anniversary.
Their first date was at the Strand Theatre in Middletown in 1935, and they married on Feb. 4, 1939, in Newport, Ky., because she wasn’t 21, the legal age to wed in Ohio.
In their words: "We're been blessed," she said. "If an angel landed on my shoulder, I couldn't have asked to be blessed as I have been," he said.
Contact this
columnist
at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.
About the Author
