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Historic Holiday Home Tours

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It’s Christmas Time in the city!  Last week, Downtown Dayton had their annual Holiday Festival that included the popular tree lighting.  And over the next couple weekends, two three of Dayton’s most popular historic districts will be presenting their own holiday home tours.  If you have ever wanted to see some beautifully restored historic homes, there is no better time than around the holidays – and these tours give you an opportunity to see several.

sptourFirst up this coming Saturday December 5 is the 2009 Historic South Park Holiday Home Tour.  Eleven homes will dazzle and delight, including grand Queen Annes, quaint cottages, and majestic Victorians. Carolers in Victorian garb will fill you with memories of Decembers past.

This self- guided tour begins Saturday at 12N and ends at 7PM. (The ticket window will close at 5PM.) Cost is $10 in advance and $15 the day of the tour.  Admission price includes a sumptuous dessert buffet at the beginning of the tour. Plan to spend two hours enjoying the sights.

To reserve tickets, please visit www.historicsouthpark.org or call (937) 603-4893. (Tickets will not be mailed.) On Saturday, pick up your tickets and begin your tour from Hope Lutheran Church, 500 Hickory Street. (Turn west off Wayne Avenue onto Hickory. Enter through the church parking lot.) Park free at Hope and Emerson Academy across the street. A shuttle will be available to transport guests back to the parking lots from the most distant home.  Check out the WDTN Bucher’s Beat story with our good friends Bill & Amy, whose house is on the tour:

Next, Dayton’s Oldest Historic District would like to invite you to be part of its annual Holiday Candlelight Tour on December 7, 8, and 9.  A liveried guide will escort you as you tour beautifully decorated historic homes.  The last home on the tour will offer you Victorian Sweets, Champagne Punch and Coffee.  Four of the District’s finest restaurants are participating in a dinner/tour option.  They are: Jays Seafood; Thai 9; Coco’s Bistro and Pacchia.  Check out their website for more details.

Then the following weekend on December 11-13 head over to St. Anne’s Hill for “A Dickens of a Christmas in St. Anne’s Hill” with guided tours of some of Dayton’s most beautiful historic homes. The tours are led Dickens2009by guides costumed in period dress and feature live entertainment followed by a visit to the beautiful homes in the historic St. Anne’s Hill neighborhood, each decorated for the season.  The tours will conclude with a delicious old-fashioned dessert and a visit to the gift shop.

Tours begin every half hour, starting from 4:30-8:00 p.m. on Friday, December 11th; 1:30-8:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 12th; and 1:30-6:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 13th. Tours last approximately two to three hours, including entertainment, home tours, and dessert. Tickets this year are $18 each, and may now be ordered online at www.stanneshill.org. Due to the popularity of the event, the schedule of tours sells out quickly and advance tickets are required.

The 2009 tour will begin at the High Street Gallery, located at 48 High Street.  The tour will conclude with a tour of the popular Bossler Mansion, a landmark structure built in 1869.  This magnificent home is considered Dayton’s best example of Second Empire architecture.  Guests can snack on a classic dessert, browse Victoria’s Parlor Gift Shoppe, walk by the newly renovated Stivers School for the Arts, and enjoy a view of Downtown Dayton.

“A Dickens of a Christmas In St. Anne’s Hill” is the Miami Valley’s oldest continuously running historic home tour, having debuted in 1983.  Proceeds from the tour will benefit the St. Anne’s Hill Neighborhood Association, and are used to maintain the neighborhood’s historic character.

So which tour do you plan to take?  Of course, you can always do both!

Dayton Urban League advances empowerment agenda

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DUL-redlogo-anim-125The Dayton Urban League Young Professionals is looking to train the next generation of leaders.

The Dayton Urban League auxillary group, founded in 2001, will host a networking event for young professionals on December 16 at Therapy Cafe at 5:30 p.m. Wrap up the year and prepare for 2010 by coming out to “meet and greet” with community leaders and other professionals in the Dayton area. The DULYP will unveil its “I am empowered to…” campaign as well as outline plans for the upcoming year.

The Dayton Urban League Young Professionals employs a five-point agenda:

  • Education and Youth Empowerment: Ensuring that all of our children are well educated and prepared for economic self-reliance in the 21st century. DULYP works with DUL’s youth programs and Parity to provide role models and mentors for youth in the community.
  • Economic Empowerment: Empowering all people in attaining economic self-sufficiency through job training, good jobs, homeownership, entrepreneurship and wealth accumulation.
  • Health and Quality of Life Empowerment: Working to build healthy and safe communities to eliminate health disparities through prevention, healthy eating, fitness, as well as ensuring complete access to affordable healthcare for all people.
  • Civic Engagement and Leadership Empowerment: Empowering all people to take an active role in determining the direction, quality of life, public policy and leadership in their communities by full participation as citizens and voters, as well as through active community service and leadership development.
  • Civil Rights and Racial Justice Empowerment: Promoting and ensuring our civil rights by actively working to eradicate all barriers to equal participation in all aspects of American society, whether political, economic, social, educational or cultural.

DUL-YP-300

For more information, or to RSVP to the event, please contact:

Dayton Urban League Young Professionals. 907 West Fifth Street,Dayton, Ohio 45402. 937-220-6665

Cookies For A Cause

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cookiewalk

We Care Arts is a non-profit organization that helps emotionally, mentally and physically disabled adults and youth achieve greater personal independence.  Through a variety of art classes and experiences, they promote the artist’s individuality, self esteem, community skills, ability to focus, life skills, responsibility, confidence and job skills.

Through the creation and sale of their individually crafted items, artists are able to affirm their self worth, take steps back into the mainstream of society and receive a supplemental income. We Care Arts provides all training and materials to artists and a portion of the proceeds of all sales is returned to the artist. The remainder goes back to program funding.

On Sat Dec 5th from 10am – 2pm,  We Care Arts will host it’s annual Cookie Walk fundraiser.  Thousands of the most gorgeous, bite-size, melt-in-your-mouth cookies will be arranged on long tables. At the start of the walk, you will receive a food service glove and bakery box. As you make your way along the cookie tables, you select as many goodies as you want, in as many varieties as you want. At the end of the walk, your box (or boxes) of cookies is weighed. The Cost – $5 per pound!!

Come buy cookies, donate cookies or candy, volunteer to help at the event and help spread the word!!

How can you help?
Helping We Care Arts by donating home-baked cookies for our event. The guidelines for donations are as follows:

1. Please contact Martha Leach at 426-5312 to confirm your donation to the
Cookie Walk.

2. We’d prefer the cookies to be miniature, bite-sized (approximately 1-1/2”). Buyers feel they can get more variety if the cookies are smaller. If your cookie works better larger, that’s ok, we’ll take them all!

3. Make your cookies extraordinary! This is an event where people can purchase homemade cookies that they normally would not make themselves. Ethnic or unusual ingredients, dipped cookies, or a variation on an old favorite are big sellers. We also welcome diabetic-friendly cookies as well as bite-sized bar cookies.

4. Homemade candies and snacks are also accepted.

5. Please include a 3×5 card with the name of the cookie and listed ingredients to inform persons with food allergies. This card will be set out with the cookies, so please print! Also specify on your 3×5 card if the cookie is diabetic friendly or sugar-free. (If you wish to be contacted for donations for next year, please fill out the form below and return it with your donation.)

6. Cookies must be delivered to We Care Arts, 3035 Wilmington Pike, on Friday, December 4, between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM.

Think Like an Onion! Enjoy the Great Outdoors This Winter

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Truly Experience Winter in the Miami Valley

As the first weather reports of snow appear in the holiday forecast our routines shift from a fall to winter mind set.  One of my favorite attributes of the Miami Valley is the ability to truly experience all four seasons, and winter is surely one of them.  When the temperature drops below freezing, Miami Valley residents have a tendency to lock themselves in their homes, crank up the heat and pull out the snuggies.  Why stay inside all winter when this region has numerous opportunities to enjoy the serenity, spirit, and color of the winter season.

Before you begin to scan local calendars, festivals, maps, and resorts, it is vital to understand how to properly dress during the winter in the great outdoors.  The easiest way to state it is to, “Think Like an Onion.”  Yes, an onion, not the onion that makes your eyes water or gives you bad breath but the onion that is layered.  Layering is the key to regulating your body temperature in the winter.

Understanding how your body loses heat is the key to choosing the right layers.  There are four ways you body looses heat, each with a scientific label that I will leave out as not to bore you.  Body heat is lost by heat escaping due to lack of insulation, wind drawWV Snow Sports Pics 095ing heat off exposed skin, direct contact with cold surfaces, and evaporation from sweating.

Numerous dangers, which include hypothermia and frost-bite are possible, even in mild temperatures, when the body is not properly protected.  In order to protect yourself from cold ailments and dangers you need to be properly insulated for the activity you will be participating in.

Sedentary: like fishing or hunting require thick insulation around your core area and where your body might come in contact with cold surfaces

Active: such as cross country skiing and snowshoeing require not as much insulation around your core and should focus on protecting your extremities with fabrics that wick sweat and breathe well.

Mixed: Alpine Skiing is an example of a mixed activity where you may experience a balance between heart-pounding effort and rest.  Layering and venting become more important to easily transition between bundling up and cooling down.

Thinking like an Onion is the principle concept in protecting your body during outdoor activities in the winter.  The layering process consists of 3 main layers.

Base Layer: consists of a thermal layer, sometimes referred to as long underwear. Base Layer fabrics should consist of non-cotton material such as silk, polyester, and poly blends that are excellent in wicking moisture off your skin.

Mid Layer: the functionality of the mid layer is to provide some insulation and style when the outer garments are removed.  Wool and Fleece make a great insulating mid layer. If possible, stay away from cotton at all costs.

Outer Layer: provides protection from the elements, such as wind and rain, or snow.  Outer layers can also have additional insulating capabilities.  Effective outer layer materials include breathable, waterproof fabrics.  Many companies have different names for outer layer fabrics which may include Gore-Tex, Conduit, etc.

Experiencing the outdoors during the Miami Valley winter is a great way to beat the cabin fever and get out of the house.  To ensure a safe and enjoyable winter outing, be sure to have little skin exposed to the outside, adequate insulation, regulate your body temperature through layering to avoid sweating, and have a great time.

A few key outdoor retailers in the area are experts in winter recreation and outdoor endeavors.  Visit these two locally owned shops for more expert tips on effective layering and to purchase some of the best gear available.  Great Miami Outfitters, www.greatmiamioutfitters.com and Valleywood Ski Shop, www.valleywoodskishop.goodbarry.com

Giving thanks for having a home, be it ever so humble.

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Welcome home DaytonDo you have a dream home? You know, that one home that exists in your mind against which you measure all other homes? Is yours a cool loft condo, or an ornate historic home? Maybe it’s a new, custom built 3500 square foot home on 5 acres? Is it a quiet 30 acre gentleman’s farm in that place between large working farms and suburbia?

One very cool thing about the Dayton area is that you can start at Third and Main, and drive in nearly any direction and see all sorts of homes- everything from lofts, past historic homes, into post-war inner ring mid-century modern homes, newer subdivisions, small farms, and within 20 minutes you can be cruising past row after and tidy row of corn and soybeans. Dayton, like most of the Rust Belt, is wonderfully diverse in many ways, and that diversity is visible in all the different real estate options available to us. We could say there’s a dream home in Dayton for everyone.

She called one late-winter afternoon.
“I got your name from Miami Valley Fair Housing. Can you help me with a short sale?”
A short sale occurs when a bank agrees to accept less on the sale of a home, than is actually owed. In other words, the bank is going to come up short on this sale, thus “short sale”. Typically the owner finds themselves unable to pay back the mortgage and instead of waiting to be foreclosed on, they negotiate with the bank to enter into a short sale. It looks better on your credit rating than a foreclosure, so it might be in the owner’s best interest to discuss the possibility with their mortgage lender, but it can be a long and difficult process. As Realtors often joke- Short sales are anything but.

Outside my office window, the snow was that lovely shade of Sludge Gray that defines old snow, and the sky was that lovely shade of Cloudy Gray that defines sunless Dayton winters. I was taking notes as she started telling me her story. Single mother, job loss, working part time, going back to school- she was doing everything “right”, but she was still going to lose her home- her dream home.

Now, Realtors know that your dream home is going to be completely different from your brother’s dream home, which is not at all like your best friend’s dream home. We are each unique, and we are each entitled to have our own unique dreams. She was living in a brand new home, in a brand new subdivision. Tract home, yes, but for her, a new home was a dream, and she was going to lose her dream home, in the middle of a gray Dayton winter. Deep breath. Okay.

I went out to the new home in the new subdivision in Trotwood. I was paying close attention to the neighborhood, and the exterior condition of the home. Modest homes, and only a few years old, but you’d be surprised how quickly a little neglect can lead to big problems. I was relieved to see that this home looked great on the outside. She loved her home and it showed- curb appeal always helps, but especially in winter.

The interior was just as lovely- more so actually, with nice decorative touches here and there, and still as clean as a model home. She loved this place, it was obvious, and she told me how happy she was to have purchased a new home in a new neighborhood for her and her son. This was a lovely place to call her own, but she lost her job, and her part time job wasn’t paying nearly enough, so we started the short sale process. Because of her love and care, we were going to be able to list this at nearly full price.

Before a bank agrees to a short sale, they want to make sure that they cannot recoup the full amount owed on the loan. The seller has to fill out forms and statements, and send specific information of proof that their financial situation has changed. If you’ve ever applied for a home loan, you know how extensive that process is. A short sale is no different. You might think of it as un-applying for the loan. It took a few weeks to gather all the documents and make contact with the loss mitigation officer who would be taking over her loan, and get all the forms her lender needed.

Like foreclosures, short sales can be an emotionally painful time, and Realtors try to make this process as smooth as possible. We are not only dealing with the bank on our client’s behalf, we are sometimes a shoulder to cry on. Occasionally a seller will just give up and let the home go, become uncooperative and uncommunicative, but this seller loved this home and wanted to do whatever she could to keep her dream home, so during this time of un-applying for the loan, she kept working, going to school, taking care of her son and her household.

Just a few days before we were ready to officially list the property in the MLS, I got a phone call. “Teri, I wanted to let you know that I’m so grateful for all your help, but I was just offered a new position at work, and I’ll be able to make my mortgage payments now!”

As you gather with loved ones this week, you might drive past a suburban Dayton subdivision and wonder why anyone would want to live there. You might look around at the people you know so well and think about their homes. A modest tract home, a large McMansion, an historic fixer, a garden condo- any one of these might be the furthest thing from your dream home. But take a moment to be thankful for what I know- that every home, regardless of how modest or extravagant, new or old, each home holds the unique dreams of the remarkable dreamers within, and in that regard, we are all the same.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo credit: Teri Lussier.

Hiring Incentives For Local Businesses

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projecthireDayton-area businesses in targeted growth industries may be eligible for financial assistance in employing dislocated workers.

Project Hire, a State of Ohio program funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, may provide stipends of up to $6,000 per hired employee to assist with training expenses.

By packaging job seekers’ existing skills with a tax credit and additional training, these individuals will become more attractive to prospective employers, beyond what the job seekers could have accomplished on his or her own. The job training will be funded through the use of Ohio Learning Accounts (OLA), which will provide dislocated workers short-term training resulting in an industry-recognized, portable credential to expand employment opportunities. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a federal credit administered by the state that employers can take for hiring workers from the following disadvantaged groups: unemployed veterans, disconnected youth in need of skills, member of a family receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), long term family or food assistance recipient, person living in a federally designated empowerment zone, summer youth program employee, vocational rehabilitation referral, ex-felon, and supplemental security income (SSI) recipient

Total Funds: The initiative will be funded with $8 million from the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act Statewide Workforce funds in Fiscal Year 2010.

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Montgomery County, will hold a workshop on Tuesday, December 1, to help employers determine their eligibility. It will be held at Sinclair Community College’s Building 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

To register for the December 1 event, visit www.daytonchamber.org.

For more information on Project Hire, contact Chris Wimsatt at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce at 226-8293.

Dayton Homes Tell Stories: What’s Yours?

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Historic Dayton Home When Bill Pote and I sat down to discuss what insight I might be able to share with the Dayton MostMetro community, I immediately said, “Stories”.

I’m a Realtor. I am privy to the most intimate details of my client’s lives, and while I am forbidden from sharing some of those stories- Realtors work under strict confidentiality rules- I can share other stories.

Real estate tells stories, homes tell stories, land tells stories. It is said that Realtors don’t sell homes, the home sells itself. When we show a home to a buyer, they love it or hate it, but real estate agents cannot talk someone into, or “sell” someone on purchasing a home that they hate. It just doesn’t happen, and I believe that in many cases, it’s because of the story the home is telling the buyers.

When we walk into a home, we get a “feeling”, don’t we? We are responding to the life, and lives, shared within those walls. Was the home cared for? Was it abused? Was it neglected? Did a happy family live there and did they simply grow out of the home? Did a happy family live there until they were foreclosed upon? You can tell when you walk into a home how the home was treated, and that’s often what we respond to when we choose a home. We have a visceral reaction to the story the home is telling us.

I’m a Dayton native. My mother and father are proud Stivers alumni. Mom grew up in the Oregon District “before it was the Oregon District” as she likes to remind me. It was in the 40’s and 50’s and my great-grandmother owned a small neighborhood store, and my mom and grandmother Rose lived in an apartment over Grannie’s Store.

My dad tells the story of making his first visit to Mom’s apartment. Granny Rose had made some soup and offered Dad a bowl. When Dad looked into the bowl, he saw it was only half full. “Stingy” he thinks to himself, until he sat down at the table. The floor was so slanted, and thus the table, that the soup nearly spilled out of the bowl. “Stingy” quickly became “smart, and a good cook to boot!”

I had a client ask me to show them a property in the Oregon District, and by weird coincidence it was Grannie’s Store, made into a 2-unit, the store was now an apartment. I asked my client if he minded if I piggy-backed a brief showing for my mom. She met me there and we stood in her old block while she told me stories about throwing water balloons off the roof of Grannie’s first store. She stood in the middle of the street and showed me where her best neighborhood pal lived and how they both got grounded once for some infraction, and had an 8 o’clock curfew. She remembered how they stood “right here in the street and talked” until one minute before curfew, and took off running for their homes. “The people who lived in this home had wonderful parties! Oh look what they did to the Store! The meat locker was here… They’ve added a closet- that used to be stairs…” Story after story was contained in this home, in this block, in this neighborhood.

Today in the City of Dayton, there is a battle over real estate stories. As we demolish our homes, the stories go with them. The neighbors look at the now-vacant lot and shake their heads and remember the stories of the families who lived there. Happy and sad, life-altering stories are demolished along with the bricks and mortar. We cringe at shiny new infill housing. It’s not the same, is it? Where are stories that match the rest of the neighborhood? We have to make a leap of faith that the lot itself can be nurtured into new life and will someday have new stories tell, and that those stories will be an integral part of the future of Dayton, as the stories that came down along with the home, were an integral part of Dayton’s past.

Real estate tells stories. I’m a Realtor and I’m so honored to be given the chance to share some Dayton stories in this space, and my hope is that you will be enticed into sharing your stories with us.

Can You Crochet?

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images-44Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, Dayton Region, is looking for a guest speaker to discuss and lead an activity about CROCHET as a hobby to girls in grades 1-3. This is a three-week series, with girls learning about a different hobby they can participate in each week taking place at our program center, 450 Shoup Mill Rd, Dayton, OH 45415.

Volunteers must be available from 6p-8p on January 6, January 13, and January 20. Please contact Michelle VanHuss, Program Services Specialist, at 937-279-6528 if you are interested in this opportunity.

Skills Needed: Volunteer should be proficient in crochet techniques and able to teach young girls a few basic skills.

All supplies for the girls will be provided. Staff member will work with volunteer to ensure a quality experience for girls.

Another Green Drinks Get Together

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images10Dayton Regional Green Task Force hosts their monthly networking event, Dayton Green Drinks at Thai 9 on Wed, Nov 8th.   Thai9 will feature appetizers provided by Vectren, and a CASH BAR will be available for you to order beverages.

Around 6:30pm, Matt Lindsday will speak about Biking in Dayton. Matt Lindsey founded the group Courteous Mass, Dayton’s bicycle advocate group that aims to do monthly group rides in the urban core of Dayton.

Green = Good
Drinks = Good
Green Drinks = Excellent!

What: Dayton Green Drinks
How: Walk, cycle, bus, car (though DO try to carpool!)
Who: Anyone working on environmental issues or interested in them
Why: Fun, contacts, alcohol, info, gossip, inspiration, business & pleasure … plus free appetizers provided by Vectren. CASH BAR

.Just go up to someone and say, “Are you green?” You’ll be made welcome!

This is an informal, self-organizing network that is now active in 582 cities worldwide!

For more information, check out www.greendrinks.org

Know A Women of Influence?

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WOIPin1The YWCA Dayton is seeking nominations for its 2010 Women of Influence Awards. This award honors women in the greater Dayton community who have made a positive impact on the lives of people in the Miami Valley through their community service.

Nominations are accepted from the community and honorees are selected by a panel of community leaders. Nominees do not have to be active in the YWCA. They should reflect the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women and should also exemplify community spirit, leadership, volunteerism and making a difference in the lives of others. To nomiate a Woman of Influence, go to the YWCA Dayton website: www.ywcadayton.org and complete the online nomination form. Deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, December 4, 2009.

A luncheon celebration will be held on March 18, 2010 at the Dayton Convention Center to honor the award winners. For more information on tickets and sponsorship, please call Angie Hoschouer at 937-461-5550, ext. 179.

Race to Dayton’s Amazing Aviation Places

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Wilbear2Dayton, meet Wilbear Wright. No, not Wilbur – Wilbear Wright, an indirect descendant of the Wright brothers (at least that’s what he told us.)

Wilbear invites you to an embark on an exciting tour of Dayton’s aviation heritage locations. The Race to Dayton’s Aviation Places is your opportunity to truly experience aviation history.

Have you walked onto Huffman Prairie, the site of the Wright School of Aviation and the Wright Exhibition Team? Have you visited the old neighborhood that the brothers lived and worked in? Have you seen the Presidential Gallery, a collection of massive presidential airplanes at the USAF Museum?

No, you say?

Wilbear frowns upon your apathy. He humbly invites you to get out and enjoy these amazing aviation places. And the best part? You get to take him home with you!

Visit a minimum of 6 of these 9 aviation sites listed to receive a “Wilbear Wright” aviator teddy bear.

  • BigWrightDunbarWright-Dunbar Interpretive Center & Wright Cycle Company*
  • Paul Laurence Dunbar State Memorial
  • Huffman Prairie Flying Field interpretive Center*
  • Wright Bros. Aviation Center, Carillon Historical Park*
  • National Museum of the United States Air Force*
  • National Aviation Hall of Fame
  • Hawthorn Hill
  • Woodland Cemetery
  • The Wright B Flyer

Before “take-off”, you must pick up a passport (free) at any of the four locations denoted with an asterisk. Obtain a stamp from the one required site (Wright-Dunbar) and five others. Mail in the completed passport and receive Wilbear FREE!

Completed passports should be mailed to:

“Wilbear Wright”

c/o Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

PO Box 9280, Wright Brothers Station

Dayton, Ohio 45409

For additional information, call the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center at 937-225-7705. It’s the (W)right thing to do!

Author’s note: Wilbear made me add that last part, I swear!

Interview with Dr. Steven L. Johnson – Sinclair Community College President

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Plaza and Bells“Find the need, and endeavor to meet it.” – David Sinclair.

The above quote isn’t just Sinclair Community College’s motto –  it’s their foundation.

David A. Sinclair, a Scottish immigrant and YMCA Secretary, founded the school in 1887 after discovering a need for affordable, skills-based training in Dayton.

Nestled inside the old YMCA building located on the intersection of 4th & Main, the small training academy had a very modest beginning. The fledgling school offered only two basic courses, mechanical drawing and bookkeeping. Fifty-five students – all men – assembled in the evenings and occupied only two small rooms of the Dayton YMCA.

Things have changed a little since then. Nineteen buildings comprise the main campus of downtown Dayton, with four satellite locations serving the communities of Huber Heights, Englewood, Warren County and Preble County.

Sinclair Community College is an award-winning, nationally recognized institution that now serves as a model for other two-year colleges. The school is one of the most important institutions in the Miami Valley region, educational or otherwise.

A member of the League for Innovation in the Community College since 1989, the college boasts some impressive statistics :*

  • 25,500 students, fall enrollment  (highest on record)
  • 176 degrees and certificate programs offered
  • $52 million, annual federal money flowing through Sinclair into Dayton
  • $62 million, annual state money flowing through Sinclair into Dayton
  • 5,985 online students, fall enrollment
  • Sinclair tuition is 43% lower than the average of Ohio’s community colleges
  • 40,000 students will take courses this year at the school
*Statistics provided by Sinclair Community College.

Dr. Johnson-Building 12 2nd floor-1Dr. Steven Johnson, the college’s fifth president, has been at the helm of the college since 2003.  The Wisconsin native was kind enough to grant Dayton Most Metro an interview in which he discussed the school’s philosophy and its sterling national reputation. Mr. Johnson speaks with a substantial amount of pride and passion as he details the college’s role in the local economy and offers a glimpse into the future of this “world-class” institution.

DMM: Can you tell me a little  about your professional background?

SJ: I spent my entire career in higher education, I began as a student worker back in 1980, and I’ve been employed continuously by some college or university ever since. I’ve worked at universities, I’ve worked at a private liberal arts college in Arkansas, a huge, 75,000 student community college system of Dallas, a community college campus in Clearwater, Florida before coming here to Sinclair to serve as chief operating officer and provost. I’m in my tenth year here at Sinclair. It’s a great college!

DMM: What did you know about Dayton before moving here?

SJ: Nothing!  There were no perceptions of Dayton, at all. I knew of Sinclair. You know, in the entire United States, there are about 4,500 colleges and universities. And,out of that number, there are only about 1,200 or so, community colleges. So actually, it’s quite a small world. And in that small world of colleges and universities, Sinclair is easily in the top 20 or so, community colleges that you just know after you’ve been in the business a while. So, I knew of Sinclair from that. That’s why I applied for the job…I knew Sinclair was a very good college.

I very much like living in Dayton. My wife is from here, we met shortly after I moved here.

DMM: Specifically, what were you hearing about the college that made it appealing to you?

SJ: Sinclair has long been known as being an innovator. It was really known for its work in technology. At least for 20 or 30 years, it’s had a reputation for being excellent in technology. Sinclair has also been known for its work in classroom assessment of learning. In fact, it’s one of the leaders.

Sinclair has also been known for developmental education. In the ’80’s and ’90’s, it really gained a reputation at that time that carries forward to this day. Additionally, the school is known for community connectiveness. If you are a student of higher education who wants to study community connectedness, community partnership, this is one of the best colleges in the nation to do that. The interaction and connection with the leaders, businesses, community groups, civic organizations, the students, the residents…this is just a model college for that kinda thing. It’s really, really good.

DMM: As you said, the college had a great reputation and a proven track record of success. When you assumed the role of president, what were some of your goals for the institution?

SJ: There were several issues, actually. Moving forward on teaching and learning, keeping abreast of technology…keeping Sinclair as a part of the elite League for Innovation.

Also, keeping Sinclair union-free – not fighting to keep unions out – but, having the kind of environment where the employees feel that a union doesn’t add anything. They don’t have to hire someone to fight with [the college.] Sinclair is a great place to work.

There are several others. You know, we passed the levy. That was on the list. We’ve pretty much hit all of it…We even hit the front page of The New York Times! [Laughs] We’ve had our share of good luck. Some of it’s lucky, and some of it is being ready to be lucky…we’ve had a little bit of both.

dr_johnson-003DMM: How important is Sinclair to the Dayton community? What makes this college such valuable asset to the Miami Valley area?

SJ: Well, right off the top of my head, I would say that there is well over 100 million dollars a year that flows into Dayton, Ohio through Sinclair from Washington D.C., and from Columbus. That’s over 100 million dollars, that flows into this community because we exist.

That money comes in the form of student financial aid, grant programs, state funding for our operations…it’s a tremendous amount. And that goes right into the local economy and gets multiplied many times over.

We can also look at our impact like this: A citizen with less than a high school diploma, gets so much money a year, on average. And then with a high school diploma, it bumps up a little bit. Then with a two-year degree, it bumps up a lot. We’re talking about, over a lifetime, you can make about $700,000 dollars more with a two-year degree…and, that degree is a pathway to a four-year degree, and beyond. At that level, the number is well over one million dollars more, in your career, than if you just had a high school diploma.

Over the last 10 years, there have been about 125,000 people who studied here at Sinclair. All [those people] are getting themselves above that threshold of a high school diploma only, and getting to a two-year degree, or beyond if they transfer to another college or university. What we’re helping families do here, is increase their wealth…increase their ability to provide for themselves and their families. So, that’s another benefit.

Also, we’re one of the cultural centers. There are several cultural centers here [in Dayton]: Wright State, UD, Schuster Center, Victoria Theatre, Dayton Art Institute, even the Air Force Museum. There are a lot of cultural amenities here, and we’re one of them. We’re a cultural center, we’re a center for technology, we’re a center for manufacturing, we’re a center for arts and sciences, we’re a center for health care…things are happening here. People have access to the best of all of that.

DMM: In your opinion, why has Sinclair been so successful? What are you doing right that other colleges can, and do, emulate?

SJ: There’s a spirit of mission here. A mission of helping students be successful in college. The faculty and the staff have it. It’s been here for a long time. It’s “find a way, or make a way” to help our students be successful. Go the extra mile.

Another aspect of why Sinclair is successful is that we are very, very closely tied to the city of Dayton, in fact, all of the cities around here…not just Montgomery County, but Warren, Greene and Miami, as well. We’re very close to them…the businesses within the counties, the school districts. We have a very substantial relationship with almost 60 high schools within the region.

What happens is that, all of these different people – all these different organizations, and the people in those organizations shape Sinclair. And they are  shaping Sinclair constantly, to meet the needs of the community. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be in the position where we’re at where we have 1 out of every 2 adults living in the Montgomery County having  attended Sinclair at one time. We wouldn’t have 25,000 students, the largest in our history…what we have is a college that struggles to remain aligned to the needs of the community. We work through it together.

We’ve had tremendous levy support. There are 23 community colleges in Ohio. Sinclair is one of 6 that has a local levy-the others don’t. Those 6 have a tremendous amount of local support that the others don’t have.

IMG_9684cDMM: Like many colleges around the nation, Sinclair has experienced a surge of enrollment over the past few years. What steps did the college take in anticipation for such a massive influx of students?

SJ: Remember what I said about being lucky and being ready to be lucky? [Laughs] A little bit of both happened, again. I can say that we were ready for the surge. We didn’t sit down and say, “You know, there’s a surge coming.” We were actually looking at data that indicated that there was an opportunity to move our region into the top 10 in the nation in educational attainment. In order to do that, we would have to take on more students. We were at about 22,000 students when we looked at this and said, “Let’s do what we can to get to about 29,000 students within a 10-yr period.” We knew we needed to increase our capacity.

Between the period of 2002 and 2007, we added about 40 classrooms. We renovated the library. We renovated the cafeteria, also. We added a building [Building 19.] Then distance learning – we were sitting right at about 2,500 students. I brought in some national consultants and said, “Tell us what we need to do to grow to 5,000 students.” They told us, and we did a lot of those things. So we were able to accommodate the natural demand for more online classes.

Then we also added learning centers – Huber Heights and Englewood. You know, Sinclair came from the YMCA, years ago. Well, now we’re back. We have this partnership with the YMCA in these areas and Preble County. All of these locations are doing very, well…

DMM: You expanded into Warren County as well. Why did you take that step?

SJ: Warren County was growing. At the time of the 2000 census, the leaders in Warren County looked at their census data and said, “Whoa, we have no college here!” They came to us in 2001 and now we have a branch there.

We can actually handle several more students because of these things. We could probably get a couple of thousand more, maybe.

DMM: Finally, what should we expect from Sinclair in the next 3 to 5 years?

SJ: Well, we are working to remain aligned with the community. As Dayton realigns, due to a changing economy, you can count on Sinclair changing its programs and services to be aligned with the region.

What are some of those changes? Well, there’s a lot of new stuff going on around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – unmanned aerial vehicles, sensor technology, composites and materials, advanced IT…those types of things. We’re working to align ourselves for the hundreds, if not thousands of new jobs that will be coming in the next years.

You can always count on us to be on the cutting-edge in technology. Additionally, I think you’re going to see bigger and better things in distance and online learning from us. I would count on us keeping the Dayton campus very strong. Physically, as far as the number of buildings and classrooms, Sinclair has one of the largest campuses in America. It’s an impressive hub. And, from this hub, we can do lots of stuff.

Dayton Business Journal recently recognized Dr. Steven Johnson as one of the Top 25  Most influential People of the Decade in the Dayton Region.

Upcoming Events at Dayton Metro Library

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bs00554_On Nov. 3, Montgomery County residents illustrated their commitment to aid the financially distressed Dayton Metro Library system by voting in favor of the 1.75 mil replacement levy.

Issue 40 passed by a huge margin. (71%) Obviously, folk were sweet on the idea of a strong library system being a vital asset to the community.

Now that the dust has settled, the canvassing has ceased, and Issue 40 signs have been plucked out of neighborhood lawns, (well, maybe not that last part) we can all chill. There’s nothing better than plugging up the Nintendo Wii and playing Mario Kart until your elbows are sore, right?

Wrong!!!

Get out and enjoy your library this holiday season. Hey, you bought it – so use it! Here’s a list of upcoming events at your Dayton Metro Library. Surely, you can find something you like:

  • Famous and Not-So-Famous Inventors of Dayton, Nov. 12, 7:00 p.m. (Vandalia)
  • Scrapbooking Workshop with Pam Morin, Nov. 14, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. (Wilmington-Stroop)
  • Annie Oakley and My Dad, Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m. (Northmont)
  • The Watervliet Ohio Shakers, 1806 – 1900, Nov. 16, 2:00 p.m. (East)
  • Orientation to the Grants Information Center, Nov. 21, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. & Dec. 10, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Main Library)
  • Dayton’s Rich Gypsy History, Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m. (New Lebanon)
  • Adult Craft Evening, Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m. (Belmont)
  • Take A Second Look: Sculptures on Downtown Dayton Street Corners in 2007, Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m. (Main Library)
  • An Excursion on the Miami and Erie Canal in 1898, Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m. (Wilmington-Stroop)
  • Dayton’s Historic Arcade: A Glorious Past and a Promising Future, Nov. 18, 6:30 p.m., Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m. & Dec. 7, 2:00 p.m. (Miamisburg, Kettering & Moraine)
  • Armchair Tour: Oregon Historic District, Dec. 14, 6:30 p.m. (Northmont)

This is just a partial list and doesn’t include the dozens of computer classes offered weekly at the Main Library. Do yourself a favor. Go to the library’s website, or stop in and pick a copy of their newsletter. Find something you like and go!

Oh, and if you do just want to play Mario Kart on the Wii, they do that too.

Told you there was something for everyone!

WSU declares Nov 16th Innovation Day

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i_doicalloutInnovation is a new way of doing something that results in improved value or quality. It employs “out-of-the-box” thinking to generate positive changes in thinking, products, processes, organizations, and society. It makes creative thinking a useful reality.

Wright State University is embracing innovation  by declaring Mon, Nov 16th as the Day of Innovation.  They’ll start the day off with a news conference at 10:30am then invite both students and the community to join them, either in person or online, to spend the day defining issues that they will work on to help improve the Miami Valley.

Learn more at the website for the Day of Innovation.

Virtual Brainstorming Sessions
Monday, November 16, 2009
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

We’ll pose questions, tackle problems, and toss around ideas and possible solutions for issues affecting our region. Get involved from your own desktop! Or join us on campus at one of the brainstorming kiosks available in the Student Union Atrium.

11 a.m.–1 p.m. Technology
1–2 p.m. Education
2–3 p.m. Health Care
3–4 p.m. Quality of Life

Student Union
Virtual Brainstorming Sessions will be held in the Student Union Atrium and online.

The Brainstorming will be followed up by a seminar with:

Peter Hancock
Expert on human-technology relations

November 16, 2009
7 p.m., Student Union Apollo Room,

Peter Handcock

An expert on the relationship between human beings and technology, Peter Hancock, D.Sc., Ph.D., heads the Minds in Technology/Machines in Thought (MIT²) laboratory at the University of Central Florida. Hancock studies how humans shape technology, and how technology shapes us. He poses that technology “is the gatekeeper that acts to decide who shall have and who shall have not…. Whatever we are to become is bound up not only in our biology but critically in our technology.” The possible future of this symbiosis is the subject of his latest book, Mind, Machine and Morality: Toward a Philosophy of Human-Technology Symbiosis.

Hancock is Provost Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Simulation and Training at the University of Central Florida. In 2009, he was named University Pegasus Professor, the highest award given by the university. Visit the Presidential Lecture Series page to learn more.

All events are FREE and open to the public.

Grand Opening of Deconstruction Depot

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images-34Featuring more than 5,000 square feet of reclaimed building materials including doors, window frames, oak lumber, fireplace mantels, fixtures, The St. Vincent de Paul Deconstruction Depot will feature a diverse inventory of used building materials for architects, contractors and homeowners alike at bargain prices.

Deconstruction represents an attractive alternative to traditional demolition. If a bulldozer flattens a structure, the building materials can — at best — only be recycled. However, if a trained crew systematically dismantles it right down to the ground, many of the materials — not just the fixtures and finishes that typically are salvaged — can be returned to the marketplace.  The process is called deconstruction. And while selective salvaging and/or recycling have long been part of the demolition process, total deconstruction is the latest — and greenest — way to go.  In the United States, building construction consumes 60 percent of our raw materials and accounts for 40 percent of the solid waste stream. Deconstructing buildings rather than demolishing them allows these materials to be reused in other building and renovation projects, diverting waste, creating jobs and protecting natural resources.

Proceeds from the sales of the materials will fund the deconstruction of additional homes in the community. The Deconstruction Depot will be open for shoppers Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm. It’s is located at the St. Vincent de Paul Community Store at 945 S. Edwin C. Moses Boulevard in Dayton, next to The Job Center.

This new joint venture is a partnership between St. Vincent de Paul  and Dayton Works Plus.  Dayton Works Plus LLC is a partnership formed by East End Community Services, PowerNet of Dayton and Architectural Reclamation Company (ARC), a private architectural reclamation business. The goals of Dayton Works Plus LLC are to employ and train hard-to-place, entry level workers including returning ex-offenders and chronically unemployed persons, for on-going jobs — to divert materials from landfills and promote green practices — to create spin-off businesses (furniture, sheds, picnic tables, outbuilding construction) with
recycled materials — and to eventually establish related businesses including landscaping, asbestos and lead abatement, and weatherization
that will add employment opportunities in our community. The organization has hired 18 employees (15 laborers earning $9 an hour plus three crew chiefs at $12 per hour). On the job training will be provided.