Here’s a winter scene in Lambertville. If it’s going to be cold, there may as well be a good layer of snow on the ground. It makes everything look better.

Technical information: Picture taken on a canon 20D (digital rebel) camera with canon EF24-85 f/3.5-4.5 USM lens.18mm

Andrew Smith is a Toledo Free Press Staff Photographer.

In 1953, Bill Hughes had the chance to join the Count Basie Orchestra or the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He chose Basie.

”I was in a dream world. I was 23 years old. I just couldn’t imagine myself playing on that level,” the trombone player said. ”We played a lot at a club in Manhattan — Birdland. We played there practically every night when we weren’t on the road.

”Some of those nights the band sounded so good I thought the top of my head would come off,” Hughes said from his home in Staten Island, N.Y.

”I felt safer joining Basie’s band,” Hughes said. ”I thought I was more of a swinging trombone player than a mechanical trombone player.”

The Count Basie Orchestra will swing into Sylvania at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 for a show at the Franciscan Center at Lourdes College, 6832 Convent Blvd. Tickets are $25.

Hughes is the director of the band, which he has been with for all but six years he took off to help raise his family.

Basie founded the orchestra in 1935. The group was known for its Kansas City jazz style.

”Basie used to describe it as ‘foot-pattin’ music,’ ” Hughes said. ”He used to say, ‘If I didn’t see anyone pattin’ their feet, I’m not doing my job.’ All the leaders have tried to continue that.”

Basie died in 1984. There are five musicians who played with the Count still in the group — Hughes; Clarence Banks, trombone; James Leary, bass; Butch Miles, drums; and John Williams, baritone saxophone. The 18-piece orchestra will be joined by vocalist Melba Joyce.

”People will recognize some of the songs — ‘Jumpin’ at the Woodside,’ ‘April in Paris’ — and some of them they won’t,” Hughes said. ”But it’ll all be in the Basie style, and that’s foot-pattin’ music. ”

ON THE WEB: www.countbasieorchestra.com

Ten years ago, auto repair was No. 1 on the list of consumer complaints at the Ohio Attorney General office and the Better Business Bureau. There has been a change for the better, but auto repair still ranks near the top on both lists.

The BBB locally and nationally continues to rank auto repair complaints in the top 10. According to the Ohio Attorney General office, auto repair complaints ranked No. 7 of the top 10 for 2004. What makes up the recent list may surprise you; some of these businesses did not exist a decade ago:

1. Automobile sales and leasing: New and used purchases, leasing and lemon law.

2. Home improvements and services: Repairs and improvements to homes and new home construction.

3. Credit and loan services: Credit cards, advance fee loans, credit repair and other financial issues.

4. Computer and Internet sales and services: Online service providers, Internet auctions, online advertising and computer hardware and software sales.

5. Collections and credit reporting: Collection of debts.

6. Professional/personal services: Clubs, associations and services such as alterations, florists, dating services and child care.

7. Automobile repairs: Repair and service of automobiles.

8. Telecommunications: Sale and service of telephone equipment and long distance and wireless services.

9. Health and beauty: Beauty salons/barber shops, fitness/health memberships, vitamins, diet and tanning salons.

10. Household goods: Home appliances and furniture.

Why the changes? Many factors are at play, including more dependable cars and fewer, but more qualified, auto repair facilities. One generation ago, there was a full-service gas station on every corner that also had a few service bays. It didn’t take a lot of training to ”try” to fix cars back then. Many of the guys who would pump your gas were the same guys who fixed your car. I know; I was one of them.

In the 1980s came fuel injection and electronic engine management (computers) and the auto repair industry began a slow change. Many of the corner gas stations became a convenience store and auto repair became very different. What was different? Primarily the people — auto repair now required extensive training and continuing education in addition to mechanical inclination. Today, auto repair has three primary players: New car dealers, chain stores and independent garages.

There are some great shops in the Toledo area and I offer you this advice: Talk to your friends and ask where they have received great service. Check with the local BBB for any outstanding complaints and ask many questions of the facility.

You can also look for ASE certification of the mechanics, but here is a hint — ASE certifies mechanics in eight different areas. Just because the mechanic has certification in one or two areas does not mean they will be certified in many other areas. A master technician is certified in all eight areas. Look and ask for a master technician. The other thing you may want to look for is an AAA-approved auto repair facility.

When you do find the shop that meets your needs, stay put — they will get to know you, your driving habits and your car. You will receive good work, proper maintenance and hopefully, no breakdowns. You don’t change your doctor every month; you shouldn’t change your mechanic, either.

Mark Moses, who has been an ASE master technician for more than 28 years, is the owner of Moses Automotive and North Coast Motorcycle, both in the Toledo area. If you have a car or motorcycle question, e-mail him at Mark@MosesAutomotive.com.

UT Rockets head football coach Tom Amstutz is not the only Coach Amstutz in Lucas County.

His daughter, Lauren, a junior telecommunications major at UT, is in the midst of her third full season as head basketball coach of the Sylvania Arbor Hills eighth grade girls’ basketball team.

”I played varsity basketball for [Sylvania] Northview for four years and we had successful seasons in all those. Our coach [Jerry Swigler] was a great influence and I learned a lot from him,” said Amstutz, who played point guard.

After high school, she opted for education at UT rather than pursuing a basketball career at a small school. Her hoops roots came full circle in 2003 when an opportunity to participate in Sylvania’s scholastic basketball stream arose.

”I heard they needed a coach at Arbor Hills and called over there. They interviewed me and I’ve been coaching since I’ve been in college. My dad would ‘coach’ me all through high school in every sport, so I guess it just seemed natural,” she said.

Amstutz is juggling what she calls a hobby in coaching with her full-time college career and is pursuing a career in TV sports broadcasting. She spent last Rocket football season traversing the same sidelines as her father, reporting on the games in front of the camera for the school’s Rocket Report.

”I’d like to be a sports reporter. My dream would be to work for ESPN covering football,” she said.

Other members of the Amstutz clan are also involved with basketball. Lauren’s mother and Tom’s wife, Beth, takes care of scorekeeping duties for Arbor Hills girls’ basketball.

Lauren’s younger sister, Brooke, plays a prominent role as a shooting guard for NAIA Division II collegiate women’s powerhouse Indiana Wesleyan. Competing in her sophomore season, Brooke won Mid-Central College Conference Player of the Week honors in the 2005-06 season. The Wildcats were 11-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country and are 25-5 as postseason begins.

The Amstutz sisters played as teammates on Northview’s prolific girls’ basketball teams from 2000-2003. According to Lauren Amstutz, her father was their AAU summer team coach when she was a sophomore and Brooke a freshman in 2000.

”He loves girls’ basketball. I think sometimes he wishes he was a high school girls’ basketball coach,” Lauren said, laughing.

Tom Amstutz said Lauren’s coaching destiny was ”in her blood.”

”She’s a real go-getter, and she’s been around sports all her life. She enjoys working with and teaching the kids,” he said, ”She really enjoys teaching basketball, and her team responds to her enthusiasm.”

The clubhouse manager for a major league baseball team is a person who is asked to sacrifice, fill the cleanup spot, pop up whenever needed, make occasional home runs, never get caught stealing and never, ever choke up.

And for all that, which is a minimal part of his job description, he gets paid a minor-league salary.

But Jim Schmakel of Perrysburg couldn’t be happier with the start of his 28th season as the Detroit Tigers’ Clubhouse manager.

”I’m going to be 55, the salary is low, there’s not a lot of retirement benefits and you just have to roll with the punches,” he said recently while loading one of two trucks headed for the Tigers’ training camp in Lakeland, Fla. ”It’s fun working with the players. ”It’s fun working in the clubhouse. The players have been so nice to me and my family that they’re just a pleasure to be around.”

Schmakel, a graduate of Central Catholic High School and UT, is in charge of clubhouse maintenance, making sure it’s clean and livable. He’s also responsible for washing towels, making sure there’s shaving and toiletries available and feeding the players, sometimes three times a day in training camp.

And guess who buys and prepares the food? If you said, ”Jim Schmakel,” you’re batting a .1000.

”The club doesn’t buy food or drinks. I buy it and the players reimburse me,” Schmakel said. ”The more you do for the players, the more chance you have to make additional money.”

Schmakel won an annual Toledo Mud Hens Bat Boy contest his freshman year at Central Catholic and worked 13 years for the Mud Hens while playing basketball at UT and then going on to teach and coach at Central Catholic and Woodmore High Schools.

”I used to run down to the concession stand to buy hot dogs and coffee when I was with the Mud Hens,” Schmakel said. ”I said, ‘this is silly,’ and I bought a coffee pot. Then I bought a grill. It exploded from there. Why have a caterer when I could make my own food? I used to cook most of the meals in the clubhouse at Tiger Stadium.

Schmakel doesn’t do much of the cooking nowadays, using different restaurants to supply the food on specific nights, and occasionally taking food to Detroit in catering boxes from Belmont Country Club and Biaggi’s in Perrysburg. There’s certain fare for specific nights, ranging from sushi to pizza. Friday, for instance, is Little Caesars night. The players can take pizza to go if there’s a big crowd and a lot of traffic.

”I’ve worked over 3,300 hours in a season, including traveling, unloading planes at 3:30 in the morning, getting condos for the guys, picking them up at the airport and getting them limos or rental cars if they want them at spring training,” Schmakel said. ”We’re maitre d’s, chefs; we wear a lot of hats. The players appreciate that.”

Former Mud Hens General Manager Charlie Senger also appreciated it when Schmakel flew with the team to Richmond, Va., and Jacksonville once a year. It was Schmakel’s job to keep the pilot from flying too high when he was on the ground.

”I’d take him out to get a sandwich and go back to the motel to watch TV with him in his room,” Schmakel said. ”It was my job to keep him sober.”

Schmakel will be working with another Perrysburg native, Jim Leyland, the new Tigers’ manager, who replaced Alan Trammell.

”I met Jim when I worked with the Hens when I was about 15. He was in our system at the time,” Schmakel said. ”If there was anyone to replace Alan, Jim is the guy I would have wished for.”

Schmakel travels back and forth to Detroit numerous times during the year. He has two vans that have logged a total of about 522,000 miles. Schmakel admits his family — wife, Pat; sons Brian and Jay (a student equipment manager for the University of Michigan football team), and daughter Katrina — has had to make sacrifices in his absence.

”My family has been a huge supporter of this whole thing and they’re big baseball fans,” Schmakel said. ”I’ve probably been away from home too much, but my family has been to All-Star games, a World Series and playoff games, so there’s a little give and take there.”

Give and take — that’s how Tigers’ Clubhouse Manager Jim Schmakel supplements his minor salary in the majors.

Toledoans won’t see Erik Johnson’s work in the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.

The work of his company, Dynamic Contracting, isn’t visible in the Owens Illinois campus in Perrysburg.

And few people know they walk all over Dynamic Contracting’s work at Westfield Franklin Park.

But it’s there, in the concrete.

In those projects, and many others, the rebar was laid by Dynamic Contracting.

”You go down I-75, and we’ve done several projects,” Johnson said of his company, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary and its new status as an entirely African-American owned firm. ”You can point to it and say ‘I did that.’ It’s rewarding.”

Eleven years ago, Johnson said he was inspired to seek a future in construction. At the time, he was on a Hurricane Andrew restoration assignment from then-employer Rudolph/Libbe.

”There was a need down there for someone to represent homeowners as construction managers,” he said.

Fritz Rudolph, the founder of Rudolph/Libbe suggested Johnson come back to Ohio.

”My father took a liking to Erik, and gave him what I would consider the first set of very important business advice, which was, you’re better off starting a business where people know you,” said Bill Rudolph, president of the Rudolph/Libbe Company. ”Erik took that advice and started his business in Toledo.”

Rudolph/Libbe already had contracting obligations in the area, some of which were reserved for minority contractors.

”It sounded like a match made in heaven,” Johnson said.

Johnson, Rudolph/Libbe retiree Eddie Dixon and another partner began Dynamic Contracting, owning 51 percent of the firm; Rudolph/Libbe owned the other 49 percent.

”When we first started out, we were general contractors,” Johnson said. ”A couple of years into it, we found out general contracting was highly competitive.”

He said the first few years were rough, and the program that set aside opportunities specifically for minority contractors was defunct.

He had been laying rebar, as well as concrete, and did construction management with select clients. But he found a niche for a company that specializes in rebar in 1997.

”As long as there’s concrete, there’s always going to be rebar,” he said. ”We started with maybe two or three people and a handful of jobs.”

He said in the last five years, Dynamic Contracting has taken between 40 and 50 projects each year, and employs between 25 and 40 ironworkers for jobs throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan, including Ford Field in Detroit and the Chrysler World Engine Plant in Dundee, Mich.

”Erik has worked hard, he’s dedicated himself to the business,” Rudolph said. ”You have lots of obstacles to success. Erik, through his efforts, and the efforts of others on his team, had been able to maneuver through those obstacles.”

While Dynamic Contracting grew, Johnson bought out partners and more of the firm. This year, Dixon and Johnson purchased the final 190 shares owned by Rudolph/Libbe.

”At the end of the day, it’s Erik pulling the wagon,” Rudolph said. ”I am proud of Erik.”

Johnson is a 1988 graduate of BGSU, where he studied construction management and played linebacker during the Falcons’ 1985 championship season. He and his wife, Sonya Johnson, have two children, Erik Jr., 11, and Caleb, 7.

The Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Growth Partnership say the $9.25 million they collected will be the fuel to spark economic growth in Northwest Ohio.

The one-year fund-raiser was part of the Leadership for Economic Advancement and Development program, a five-year economic plan aimed at supporting existing businesses and recruiting new companies to the area. Chamber of Commerce and RGP members met with business leaders to solicit funds for the project. More than 60 businesses donated to LEAD.

”The private sector overwhelmingly embraced the program and recognized the need to strengthen the economic development process,” said Mark V’Soske, CAE, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. ”We’ve

significantly exceeded out $8 million goal.”

President and CEO of RGP, Steve Weathers, said the diversity in businesses that supported the initiative will lead to strong support in the future.

”A broad spectrum of businesses see a benefit to proactive involvement,” Weathers said.

Weathers said LEAD has allowed RGP to be privately funded. He said this independence will make the project more streamlined and less bureaucratic.

Weathers said details of how the money will be spent are being discussed. He said some funds will go toward a software program which will be designed to keep capital in the region.

The software, called ”Connectery,” will allow local businesses to register their products and services so other local businesses are aware of what they have to offer. If local businesses use the software to buy from one another, dollars will be spent within the region, rather than out of sate. Weathers said there is about $50 million to $100 million in local business spending going on outside of the region.

Connectery will be free of charge to businesses in 11 surrounding counties.

”We are trying to connect the left hand and the right hand,” Weathers said.

Weathers said events such as the privatization of RGP and the Medical University of Ohio and UT merger are an indication of a shift in momentum of the economy in the region.

”All of the sudden we have all of these activities that are starting to happen,” he said. ”In five years, Northwest Ohio will not look the same. We will have higher-paying jobs and economic prosperity.”

Realtor Litza Lee will soon close on her first sale in Ohio.

The native of Taiwan said she has wanted to be a Realtor since she moved to the United States in February 1993.

But it took a while.

”At age 22, I really wanted to get into real estate, but at the time I spoke very little English,” she said, adding she speaks Taiwanese and Mandarin.

She took a job at Meijer on Alexis Road, then moved to Columbus in 1995 for a promotion. In 1996, the company transferred her back to Michigan in 1996 as a manager in the Southgate store.

While she worked, she attended classes at Monroe Community College and worked herself through books to learn English.

”I would go to the library and get a book on tape and the book [in print],” she said, adding she also made recordings of herself speaking English phrases to critique and correct her pronunciation. ”I tried to push myself to read a book. I tried to push myself to read one a month.”

The work paid off when she acquired her real estate license in Michigan three years ago, but she didn’t stop there. In May 2005, she earned an Ohio license. She joined Welles Bowen Realtors in November.

”I believe I’ve always been good at sales,” she said.

She said her inspirations and sources of natural salesmanship are her grandmother, who died in 1993, and her mother.

For 60 years, her grandmother would walk three miles a day to sell groceries. Her mother, who also sold groceries, always repays kindness and generosity, she said.

”I always look up to [my grandmother],” she said. ”She is a very strong person inside and out.”

She said her family is proud her accomplishments, and joked that the distance between her and her family has earned her a ”VIP status when I go home.”

She said those familial lessons and

her work. She said it is tough building a real estate career, but learns from each experience.

She also found inspiration in Welles Bowen broker Kevin Smith, who first met her while she was still working in Michigan.

”When you meet her, you know the type of energy she has and the type of excitement she has for her profession and anything she gets involved in, whether it be business or community, music or cultural,” Smith said. ”She’s a person that gets totally involved. And that’s why I think she’ll do well with whatever she’s involved in.”

He said she’s also determined.

”That’s how she tackles everything,” Smith said. ”Real estate, learning languages, experiencing life.”

Lee said she works hard at everything.

”I like to devote my time to a client,” she said. ”I wish I could give the whole world to them to buy or sell a house.”

She said she likes to work with first-time home buyers.

”I like to [find] the connection of linking of what their emotions are and what they need in service,” she said, adding she finds fun in her job. ”You need to make your client feel important and you need to joke around sometimes.”

She said she uses some of those same emotion-connecting skills in her work as a committee chair for the Chinese Association of Greater Toledo.

”I like to be there for the newer people that come into the United States,” she said.

In both real estate and her CAGT work, it’s all about making people feel at home, she said.

”I just like to help people because by helping people they are satisfied and they are happy,” she said.

Richard Schultz could be a candidate to star in the U.S. Navy’s next TV commercial, but he’s no actor. He’s a real-life veteran who embodies the promise of acquiring the discipline and skills needed to succeed in the civilian world.

He joined the Navy and toured the globe. He also witnessed his transformation from troublemaker to ideal employee. The 23-year-old Toledoan enlisted at age 18, spent five years in the Navy Mobile Construction Battalion serving on four continents and received a job offer about a year before mustering out of the service.

Roughly three months after accepting a position with a local company, Schultz earned two raises and now oversees shipping, receiving and material handling. He declined to name his employer out of respect for privacy, but spoke frankly about the chip he used to carry on his shoulder.

”I didn’t have any college, I really didn’t have any direction in life. I was getting in a lot of trouble so I thought the military would straighten me out,” Schultz said. ”If you’re the type of person heading down the path that I was, it’s a very awakening experience.”

A self-described ”hothead” who wanted to fight ”everybody and anybody,” Schultz often found his penchant for blind courage an asset under adverse and sometimes dangerous situations. He said he probably has flown the world three times, deployed from his base in Gulfport, Miss., to Guam, Haiti, Okinawa, Spain, the Philippines and Iraq, where terrorists could strike at any time.

”I wasn’t scared when I was there,” he said. ”I mean, there were times when, you know, you’d get a little nervous, but I just did my job. And I knew the guy next to me would do their job, so I really didn’t think I had anything to worry about.”

He experienced similar circumstances in the Philippines while improving roads and building a dock for ships to unload material. Though the military hasn’t engaged terrorists on the Pacific island, Schultz said ”unfriendlys” freely roam about. Unlike their counterparts in Baghdad and Fallujah, Philippine terrorists can be more easily identified.

”You can kind of tell because you’d only be able to see their eyes; they always kept their hands hidden,” he said. ”They would carry weapons; I mean, everybody carried weapons over there, so there were a few that would make you nervous. You just kind of smile and wave at them.

”In a situation like that, you can’t be hostile. It isn’t wartime; it’s supposed to be peace so you sit back really nice and hope they don’t do anything. If they do do anything, then you know what to do.”

More opportunities are presenting themselves because of his service, including a GI Bill to pay for college. Schultz said he hopes to earn a degree in business and start a four-wheel custom fabrication shop.

”The military taught me that I really don’t like being told what to do. I like to do things my way, you know,” Schultz said. ”I don’t see a problem if you tell me to do something, and I do it my way, and you don’t like that, but I still get the job done.”

The old No. 18 firehouse at 918 Sylvania Ave. near Lewis and Phillips avenues hasn’t been in action for nearly a quarter century. There have been no firefighters living there and no late-night fire calls to alarm the neighbors.

But the station has just as much to do with fire safety as the stations with three shifts of on-duty firemen and shiny trucks. Since 1984, it has been the home of the Toledo Firefighters Museum — founded with the purpose of preserving the history of the Toledo Fire Division and educating citizens about fire prevention and safety.

Fire buffs who visit the museum are rewarded with a million-dollar display of vintage fire-fighting equipment and memorabilia, including helmets, models of old rigs, an old alarm office and a watchman’s desk and tape register.

Retired Deputy Chief Robert Schwanzl is one of the volunteers who staff the museum, in addition to ”Fireman Freddy,” the fireman who works with the school groups who come to see the educational area. He said the museum is supported by payroll deduction contributions of 90 percent of active firefighters, and local building trade unions have contributed the labor necessary to build the museum.

”This is one of Toledo’s best-kept secrets,” he said. ”There is so much to see and learn here, and we have plans to expand. We encourage parents to bring their children to see the trucks and helmets.”

The chronological history of the TFD is shown in pictures and memorabilia. The pride and joy is the 1937 Neptune, Toledo’s first fire pumper. It took 20 men to pump the water from the Neptune, a hand-pulled and hand-operated pumper that could deliver 300 gallons of water per minute. A new addition to the collection is a renovated horse-drawn steamer dating from the late 1870s, which could deliver 800 gallons of water.

School children visit the museum for lessons on fire safety. They see the fire poles and the fire engines, but also visit Jed’s Bedroom, a true scale model of a second story bedroom. Children are taught how to respond to a fire in their homes — how to roll out of bed and feel the door for heat with the back of the hand. They learn about family safety plans and the importance of smoke detectors.

Volunteers organized the Firefighters Museum in 1976, as part of the City of Toledo’s celebration of America’s Bicentennial. The first display was housed in the Museum of Science at the Toledo Zoo, but the collection soon outgrew the space. The current location was opened in October 1984, and continues to operate Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4 p.m., and weekdays and evenings by appointment. Call (419) 478-3473 for information.