Transpacific wind surfer has local roots
3/11/2000Toledo native Steve Fisher will sail his custom sailboard around the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, then go to dinner at the Explorers Club.
He's been invited to do that at his induction into the famed and exclusive organization.
Steve lives on Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. He got there three years ago by sailing his wind surfer 2,500 miles from California.
Steve was born in Toledo and went to school in Bedford. His 59-day solo ocean voyage earned him membership in the exclusive Explorers Club.
''At one point, he was on the edge of a typhoon on that little thing and the Coast Guard lost contact for a while, but he made it,'' says his grandmother, Vivian O'Toole of Toledo.
Central memories
Every day, he says, Felix Ellerbrock reflects on happy days working at Central Catholic High School, as ''maintenance superintendent,'' a title given him by the late Msgr. John Harrington.
Felix turns 100 tomorrow.
A favorite memory:
Accompanying Val Fischer to make a bank deposit and dropping a bag with $800 in loose change.
Felix says he scrambled to pick up coins that spilled all over a parking lot. ''We only lost one quarter,'' he said.
Shirt art
Toledo artist Woody LaPlante took a trip to Ireland, and it turned out to be a warm-up for an art job.
On his return, Woody got a call from Seattle that led to him designing the logo for a St. Patrick's Day run, which attracts 11,000 people to that city's streets.
By plan?
Kelly Reigle of Walbridge was born Aug. 11, the same birthday as Bonnie Wilcox, best friend of Kelly's mother, Carol Yates.
Last summer, Kelly's best friend, Elizabeth Booth Leonardi, gave birth to a baby, on Aug. 11.
Lydia's 'new' old stove
Lydia Stadel of Toledo will soon be 91. Recently she decided to buy a new kitchen stove. She had been using the same one for 57 years, says son-in-law Jack Renz.
A delivery man who brought the new stove looked in Lydia's kitchen and exclaimed: ''Why, your old stove looks brand new!''
''He's right, that old stove looks and works like new,'' Jack says.
So, Jack, why did Lydia get a new stove? ''Well, I guess she felt that after almost 60 years, she just deserved a new one.''
Helpers
At Assumption St. Mary's church, young Kristen O'Neill was a server and Katie Najarian was the lector who entered with the priest and read from scripture.
Afterward, Lauren Keefer, who is 4, told parents Kelli and Todd Keefer that, "Kristen lit the candles. Katie helped the king."
Recycled reading
In St. Petersburg, Fla., The Blade is read and reread by snowbirds, says Posy McHugh of Toledo, who winters on Isla del Sol.
''After I read it, Joan and Todd Kozlowski get it, then recycle it to Eileen and Dick Sheets, who pass it on to Jules Juhasz.''
The Last Word
''Oh, no, don't do that, Daddy said don't talk to a male.''
Kyndal Goodwin, 3, after her aunt, Leslie Scott of Toledo, said she was sending her a present and ''it will be coming in the mail.''
Got a funny or unusual story? Call Mike Tressler, 724-6107, or send to The Blade, Box 921, Toledo, O. 43660, or e-mail: mtressler@theblade.com.