Score one for Michigan International Speedway.

Actually, score 43.

After 40 years of fans being able to see only the top five drivers listed on the infield scoreboard during NASCAR Sprint Cup races, now they will be able to see where every driver in the 43-car field ranks, thanks to a mammoth, new scoreboard, the likes of which have yet to be seen anywhere else.

MIS unveiled the $2.35 million, 110-foot high, three-sided monster with the latest LED lighting and graphics May 28.

Track president Roger Curtis, explaining some of the graphics that can be accommodated by the new scoreboard, admitted there is no way to even comprehend all of the functions the scoreboard will be able to perform with a total of 10 people involved in its operation at the onset.

“I don’t see it getting old,” Curtis added. “The graphics will always change. It could be the standard for motor sports.”

You wanted to give the almost giddy Curtis a controller so he could play the newest in computer games, such as “Pac-Man.” No, wait, that was the old scoreboard.

The scoreboard’s official flag-waving debut will be on Flag Day, June 13, for the ARCA RE/MAX Series race, starting at 5:15 p.m. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Cool City Customs 200 will be the following day, starting at 3 p.m., followed by the LifeLock 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race June 15, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Rookie invasion

There’s a 60 percent chance a rookie will capture the ARCA RE/MAX Series season championship this year based on the current standings. Six rookies are among the top 10, headed by Ricky Stenhouse, a Roush Fenway Racing Ford developmental driver. If a rookie wins the title, he’ll have to choose between either being hailed as the series champion or Rookie of The Year. How much thought in nanoseconds do you think will go into that ?

Cheap shots for sale

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Gary Roberts delivered one of the most despicable cheap shots ever observed by these elder eyes. With play stopped in Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup playoff game against Detroit’s Red Wings last week, Roberts skated up behind Wings forward Johan Franzen and sucker punched him in the side of the head, Franzen falling to the ice in pain. Franzen, the Wings’ leading scorer, had missed the previous six games suffering from concussion-like symptoms. It could have been a career-ending situation for the 28-year-old Franzen. Meanwhile, Roberts’ career continues unabashed.

And being a casual NBA fan and watching overpaid athletes underachieve too many times, I have yet to distinguish between a foul, a hard foul and assault to commit bodily harm.

In watching a recent Cleveland Cavaliers NBA playoff series game against Boston, a player who appeared open for a layup was grabbed by the throat, twisted around and thrown to the court.

One of the announcers, after watching the television replay, went out on a limb and said, “That could have almost been called an intentional foul.”

Ya think! How about attempted homicide?

Danica exposed … almost

One of my more reliable sources confirmed what was obvious concerning Danica Patrick’s victory last April in Motegi, Japan, when she became the first woman to win an IndyCar race.

Helio Castroneves, who finished second, allowed Patrick to pass him late in the race for the triumph. It was reportedly under team orders.

Castroneves has been leading the Indy Racing League point standings, but there wasn’t much difference, point-wise, between first and second. It was a short field and it was in Japan, out of viewing and listening range for most U.S. open-wheel racing fans.

Evidently, word came down from on high, according to my almost always reliable source, that this was an opportunity for the IRL to score some major publicity points with the not-sold-out Indy 500 just around the corner. Castroneves danced low on the track to allow for the pass and Danica became the darling of motorsports.

But another one of her PR hissy fits, this time when she was knocked out of the Indy 500 in the pits by an over-enthusiastic Ryan Briscoe, has not endeared her with her fellow racing compatriots and many others in the racing community.

There were a lot of things that we “knew” coming into the 2008 baseball season. We knew there would be offense galore in the American League. We knew that the Yankees and the Mets would be terrific. We knew that the Indians would be battling for another division title. We knew Baltimore, Oakland and Tampa Bay would all stink.

We also knew that the Tigers acquisition of Miguel Cabrera would give Detroit an unstoppable offense, leaving Florida with no chance of escaping 100 losses and deplete the Tigers organization of nearly all of its minor-league talent. I can honestly say I didn’t buy into all that pre-season hype; I knew Tampa Bay wouldn’t stink.

Maybe the one thing we did know, almost certainly, was that the Mud Hens would be good. We are used to that. But the one thing that has been surprising about the Hens is that they do indeed have legitimate major-league prospects.

Let’s first define “legitimate major-league prospect.” The first criterion is not talent, but age. For example, if a player reaches the Triple-A level at age 20, his is considered a much better talent than someone who is 28 and at the same level. Simply put, he is eight years ahead of the 28-year old, who is considered to be “nearly washed up.”

If a player doesn’t reach the majors by the time he reaches 25, most baseball people begin to feel that the “prospect” won’t become a star. More major-league players have their best season at age 27 than any other, so you can see the rush.

When Detroit traded for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, the Tigers parted with a boatload of prospects. Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller were first-round draft picks, and at 20 and 22 years old respectively, were considered major prospects. Also included in the deal were Eulogio de la Cruz, Dallas Trahern and Perrysburg native Burke Badenhop, all pitchers expected to reach the majors, with two of them already having done so. Where did that leave the Mud Hens?

Sure, the Hens had proven hitters Timo Perez (33) and Mike Hessman (30), but they were too old to be considered prospects. But one thing manager Larry Parrish, hitting coach Leon Durham and new pitching coach A.J. Sager always do well is prepare their players for the big leagues.

Pitcher Armando Galarraga (26) only spent two starts at Toledo, but has been Detroit’s most consistent starting pitcher this season. Outfielder Matt Joyce (23) drove in 21 runs in only 28 games with the Hens and made an immediate impact with the Tigers. Now first sacker Jeff Larish (25), who was third in the International League with 16 home runs and second in the league with 43 runs batted in, got the call up this week. This doesn’t even include second baseman Mike Hollimon, (25), who has stunned everyone by slugging 12 homers in just 35 games (he’s never had more than 15 in a season), outfielder Brent Clevlen (24), who has re-established himself by hitting around .300, cutting down on his strikeouts and showing everyone his wide range of talent, and Clete Thomas (24), who already showed that he can more than compete at the major-league level. Detroit called Thomas back up to the Tigers May 28.

The Tigers, full of high-priced talent at the big-league level, are blocking many deserving Mud Hens from moving up to Detroit, which is bad for Mud Hens players, but good for Mud Hens fans. The major leagues may not make sense this year, but at least the Hens are still in first place.

Norm Wamer is program director of Sports Radio 1470 “The Ticket” WLQR-AM and co-hosts “The Front Row” weekday afternoons from 3 to 6 p.m.

Nine-year-old Tyrus Carroll loves hitting the diamond to play ball, hitting a baseball and hitting just about everything.

“He loves hitting anything,” his mother, Chantillie Doering, said. “During the winter I’ll even throw him snowballs and he’ll hit them with a shovel.”

Tryus has Down syndrome, a rare bone disease and underwent open-heart surgery when he was 4 months old.

But baseball? Chantillie said the game has helped Tyrus develop and integrate him socially into their neighborhood.

“He’s had delayed development in everything by about two to three years, but he is ahead in hand-eye coordination because he practices so much,” she said.

Tyrus plays in the Miracle League of Northwest Ohio (MLNWO), one of the charities that will benefit from the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic LPGA tournament in July.

The league, which is in its second season, gives physically and mentally disabled children the opportunity to play baseball.

Five-time Farr winner Se Ri Pak met with children May 19 to cheer them on in a practice and teach them how to swing a golf club.

“This is a great experience,” Pak said. “These kids are our future and I can feel the excitement from all of them.”

Money raised from the golf tournament will be used to fund a new field for the Miracle League, said MLNWO president and founder Jeff Barton.

The new field has total construction costs of $350,000 and will feature a $160,000 wheelchair-friendly rubberized surface, Barton said.

The league has received offers to cover the construction costs by doing the work for free, leaving the rubberized surface as the big expense, which will be met by money earned from the golf tournament, Barton said.

Construction on the field, which will be located in Brentwood Park in Northwood, started May 27 with hopes of having it completed by fall, or at the latest, next spring.

The four-week season will draw to a close June 8. Games are played at the baseball field at Lark Elementary School in Northwood.

Barton said the league is not only fun for its participants, but the interaction and teamwork helps the children develop.

“It brings up the kids’ self-esteem up and helps them improve their social skills,” Barton said. “It is a great thing so far.”

Convenience store owners affected by Toledo Municipal Ordinance 721 said one of the most difficult requirements of the law is that proprietors install a camera system police can use to identify suspects. Midwest Retailers Association Counsel Scott Ciolek said the city is unreasonably requiring cameras of “CSI quality.”

Rob Ludeman, who first drafted the ordinance, has said the camera requirement is modeled on Minneapolis law (Ordinance Amendment 259.230), which went into effect in 2006. Grant Wilson, manager of licenses and consumer services for Minneapolis, told Toledo Assistant Clerk of Council Julie Gibbons on Oct. 30, 2007 that a low-end camera would cost $600, but a digital system could cost $10,000. (Ciolek said Toledo city lawyers told him the cameras would only cost $600.)

Wilson said most carryout owners in Minneapolis ended up paying between $1,500 and $2,000 for a system.

“The cameras have helped in several [burglary] cases,” Wilson said. “Sometimes store owners have had trouble working with the hardware and software, but the camera companies can explain how they work.”

Wilson said the requirement that store owners keep tapes for police use “hasn’t been a problem.”

Toledo convenience store owner Dan Ridi said he expected a camera system would cost between $2,600 and $4,000.   

Kim Klewer, president of the Toledo security firm Asset Protection Corporation (APC), estimated that the camera system Toledo requires will cost $3,000 to $4,000. For an analog system, he said, owners would have to change tapes every six hours.

“The camera themselves are very inexpensive,” Klewer said. “And owners could do it themselves pretty easy. But adding a DVR digital recorder is where it gets expensive.”

Klewer said Ordinance 721 does not mandate the security of the recorder; burglars could rob the store, then swipe the recorder and tapes.

“Thieves have been doing that ever since cameras first got popular,” he said.

Klewer said the law could endanger carryout employees, since it requires an alarm or signal to show when the camera system is activated.

“Most holdup alarms are silent, so there’s no added danger,” Klewer said. “If not, you’re going to anger the thief and he’s going to do something he wasn’t planning to do.”

After the City of Toledo first notified convenience store owners of the new regulations in Toledo Municipal Ordinance 721 on March 17, local carryout owners formed the Midwest Retailer’s Association (MWRA) as a legal defense group.

“The city is breaking some of the most important contract and constitutional laws we have,” said Scott Ciolek, a lawyer who represents the MWRA.

MWRA’s case is primarily based on constitutional law. Ciolek writes in his complaint to the U.S. District Court of Northwestern Ohio (Sixth Circuit) that Ordinance 721 is unconstitutionally vague; its requirement that owners hand over surveillance tapes to city officials, without a warrant, violates the search and seizure rights detailed in the Fourth Amendment; and the mandated transfer of those tapes could violate an owner’s Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Ciolek said the ordinance also violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection clause, since it requires only applicants from Michigan to file a background check from that state, in addition to the normal one from Ohio. While he doesn’t allege discrimination in the case, he said it may be directed at Arab-Americans from the Detroit area.

Ridi agreed: “Ninety percent of the owners of stores under 5,000 square feet in Toledo are Arab-American,” he said. “Our members feel it is discriminatory.”

Ciolek said the law could be misused to affect other businesses under 5,000 square feet, since the law says it applies to any convenience store that makes “Retail sales of food and beverage for home consumption.”

Toledo Law Department attorneys Jim Bishop and Keith Winterhalter are representing the city. Neither would comment since the case was in litigation. In their response to the complaint, they wrote, “Plaintiff has failed to state a cause of action for which relief can be granted,” and asked that the case be dismissed.

A Toledo ordinance imposing new requirements on carryout owners is stopped in court while the Toledo City Council and lawyers for carryouts and the city discuss the legality of the law, and possible amendments to it.

“We thought it was just like another cigarette licensing permit,” said Dan Ridi, who owns several Stop & Go locations in Toledo. He and other carryout owners first learned about the law March 17. Police officers started hand-delivering applications May 26. “It turned out it was a lot more than that. The cost is not an issue — it is illegal and unconstitutional.”     

The City of Toledo originally approved Toledo Municipal Ordinance 797-07 on Dec. 11, 2007, but the law did not take effect until May 1. The Midwest Retailers Association (MWRA), which formed in response to the ordinance, sought and won a preliminary injunction in U.S. District Court of Northwest Ohio (Sixth Circuit), which prevented the law from taking effect. On May 27, city lawyers requested an extension, and now have until June 12 to file their case.

The law, now known as Toledo Municipal Code 721, is primarily composed of three new requirements. It requires store owners to fill out a license application, including background checks, a zoning review and building inspection and a $250 annual fee for a license. It requires convenience stores to install cameras in the register area, and keep a tape library dating back 30 days. Any “authorized” city official can pick up a tape, without a warrant, with eight hours’ notice. And it makes store owners responsible for criminal activity in the store and its parking lot, crimes including loitering, lurking, gambling, prostitution and sales or use of guns or drugs.

What do the store owners think about enforcing the law?

“Absolutely not, even if I had three or four employees in the store,” Ridi said. “It’s putting their lives in danger.”

Kamal Abu Layla, who owns Nebraska Market near I-75, agrees.

“Should I ask every woman in my parking lot, ‘are you a prostitute?’ Should I ask every man if he has a gun? It would put my life in jeopardy,” Layla said.

Give or deny licenses

Former city councilman Robert Ludeman, whose term finished after the law passed in December, first drafted the ordinance.

“We were always frustrated when a special-use permit for a store selling alcohol would come up, and the city couldn’t do anything about it, since the state regulates alcohol sales,” Ludeman said. “This ordinance would give Toledo the ability to give or deny licenses,” a practice he said depends on the amount of police attention one address requires.

City lawyers John Winterhalter and Jim Bishop said they could not comment, since the case was under litigation. But Ludeman said Toledo could gear its licensing laws toward controlling specific sectors as they see fit.

“It’s a question of how the city can control the bad apples that cause criminal activity,” he said, referring specifically to The Spot Mini Mart on Dorr Street, which closed in 2006 after the city did not renew its erroneously granted special-use permit.

CEO Terry Glaser of UnitedNorth, the community development corporation of North River and LaGrange, said he took part in some meetings leading up to the formulation of the law. He said his group supports the licensing laws.

“In general, we support licensing for convenience stores that cause problems. We’ve got 15 of them in our area; some are great. But when they’re selling alcohol and cigarettes, it tends to cause problems.

Glaser said the stores, while necessary, aren’t always desirable.

“There’s not a lack of convenience stores,” he said. “They’re not a form of economic development. By nature of their business, they’re in areas of crime and trash.”

Attorney Keith Wilkowski, who represents the Toledo CDC Alliance, said he reviewed Ludeman’s draft of the new ordinance last year before it went before the council. But Wilkowski, who has announced his intention to run for mayor of Toledo in 2009, stressed that the alliance has usually supported zoning and spacing requirements rather than licensing.

“The City Council has taken up a very complicated and overly complex scheme,” he said. He said carryouts proliferated after the council changed zoning rules in 2004, and that spacing rules, while imperfect, were more effective. Councilman Joe McNamara introduced comparable spacing rules, unrelated to the licensing ordinance, on May 13.

No current city council members contacted by Toledo Free Press would speak since the case is under litigation.

Delivered by hand

Toledo City Police began hand-delivering applications for licenses to convenience store owners May 26. Chief Michael Navarre said his officers would not have delivered the one-page summary of the new law if he had known city lawyers would seek a court extension the next day. But he defended the practice of delivering the application form by hand.

“We checked to see how many applications were in, and we knew there was going to be a lot of noncompliance,” he said. Navarre said the police department met with the city’s law and neighborhood departments and decided to take action.

“It’s not our goal to generate a lot of criminal and administrative citations — we just want to get compliance,” he said.

Navarre said that most convenience stores do a good job, and that police will still respond to calls from convenience stores.

“We don’t expect [the owners] to be Superman, or put themselves in harm’s way,” he said. “We want them to make an effort, and the people who don’t make an effort will have their license revoked.”

Late on May 29, Ciolek asked that the court to deny the city’s motion for an extension and grant his convenience store owners a restraining order against the “armed” officers who delivered the forms. He said he had received “over 70” fearful calls from carryout owners, not all of them members of MWRA.

“I believe [Navarre] when he says he didn’t know about the extension,” Ciolek said. “But why the chief would not know — it’s a sad commentary on the city, and I think it shows they’ve not taken it seriously. These owners are scared — that letter suggests they could spend a month in jail.”

A 14-year veteran of the Toledo Police Department announced his candidacy for an at-large seat in the September 2009 Toledo City Council election.

Paul Tetuan, flanked by his wife and twin daughters under a windy gazebo at International Park, said May 28 he wants to end the city’s trash tax, keep Toledo ready for new jobs and keep the city council on budget.

“Toledo has just about everything that a company would want from a municipality,” he said.

He praised Toledo’s “ready and willing” work force, and its proximity to various forms of transportation and trade.

Tetuan said he believes Toledo needs leadership “with the vision, common sense and responsibility to bring citizens together.”

“I believe I possess these traits, and stand ready to serve all the citizens of Toledo,” he said.

After his speech, Tetuan talked about the initiative to bring an intermodal hub to Toledo.

“It can be done, and not only that, it must be done,” he said. “But it’s a regional thing — all the different government entities need to work together.”

When  asked about laws holding back commercial development, Tetuan mentioned the convenience store licensing law.

“I’m not 100 percent against it,” he said. “But it is an example of government hindering businesses.”

Tetuan said he is announcing his candidacy now because he wants to get his name out early and make sure people understand his platform. And he stressed his position as an independent.

“I didn’t want to be beholden to a political party,” he said.

Tetuan lives with his family in west Toledo.

A familiar smile greets customers at the meat counter inside the Toledo Food Market. The man wearing the grin is on a first-name basis with most of the patrons who enter the small grocery store on the city’s east side.

He’s simply known as Bob to them, but for more than a decade they called him Councilman McCloskey.

Such is the homecoming for Robert McCloskey, the former Toledo City councilman who pleaded guilty in July 2006 to accepting bribes in March and April of that year from a businessman cooperating with the FBI. After serving about 20 months of his 27-month sentence, the 62-year-old returned to Toledo in early May from a federal prison camp in Ashland, Ky., an experience he called “humbling.”

“I went from being a Toledo City councilman to being a federal prisoner,” McCloskey said. “It lets you know there’s only one person in charge, and that’s Jesus Christ. I think maybe Jesus’ plan was to show me what’s most important — family.”

McCloskey, who said he expects to be released from a Toledo halfway house by summer’s end, was required to gain employment as part of his early release. To make that happen, he turned to the district he represented for 12 years.

The owners of the market offered to make him a greeter, he said, but McCloskey told them he wanted “real” work, so behind the meat counter is where he was placed. Since his return to Toledo, he has worked a six-hour shift every day.

Though he described his incarceration as “one of the worst times in my life” and “very depressing,” McCloskey said he reflects more on the positives that resulted from his conviction. A smoker since he was a teenager, he gave up the habit and hasn’t had a cigarette in more than 20 months. He lost 30 pounds in prison and read the Bible four times. He also took a horticulture class through the University of Kentucky and a keyboarding course.

“I had an opportunity to do things I never would’ve done had I not gone in,” McCloskey said.

While at Ashland, McCloskey worked as a driver, taking people to the airport, hospital and other medical appointments. He was unsupervised while working, he said.

“It made me feel good,” McCloskey said. “They just don’t give anybody the keys to their van.”

McCloskey didn’t lose touch with the Toledo area while in prison. He received hundreds of letters from people throughout the community during his time in Ashland, and his wife, Barbara, whom he’s been married to for 40 years, made the six-and-a-half-hour drive from Toledo regularly. Their marriage, he said, is stronger than ever.

“I give her a kiss every day to tell her how much I love her,” McCloskey said. “That’s humbling.”

McCloskey said he’s still bitten by the political bug, but he’s unsure whether he’s eligible to hold public office because of his felony conviction. Even if he could run for council again, he said he doubts that would happen.

“Only if I wanted a divorce. My wife says she doesn’t want to share me with anyone,” he said.

Felons could hold public office in Ohio once released from the Ohio Parole Board’s authority until Gov. Ted Strickland signed into law May13 a bill that basically forbids them from doing so, said Jim Gravelle, spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

Financially devastated by his crimes, McCloskey said he and his wife would have to work hard to replace the retirement savings lost during the past two years. But his top priority is earning a chance to return home.

“I paid my time; it’s over,” he said. “Now I just have to prevent myself from getting in a situation where it could happen again.”

KeyBank’s offices were closed at noon May 20 in celebration of Neighbors Make the Difference Day, its annual day of community service. In the Toledo area, more than 475 bank employees traded their business suits for jeans and T-shirts and volunteered at more than 25 local community organizations addressing human and environmental needs.

One of the project sites to which KeyBank has remained committed is the savanna area of Oak Openings Metropark. Naturalists accompanied volunteers as they returned to what is informally known as the KeyBank site among Metropark staff. This year, volunteers were trained to statistically monitor the results of their decade of effort along the Walbash Cannonball Trail off Girdham Road in Swanton.  

“When they came out for the first time this was a degraded woodlot.  Now it is a showpiece,” said Bob Jacksy, Metropark naturalist.  

Over the years, volunteers removed weedy shrubs and overgrowth to allow more sunlight to get through to the forest floor. The result was that a native oak savannah species of lupin grew from fewer than a dozen plants to thousands. The flourishing of the blue spiked wildflower allowed the population of the Edward’s Hairstreak butterfly to increase as well. The habitat of the rare butterfly has increased from 10,500 square feet to 10 acres due to the work completed during the annual KeyBank volunteer event.

KeyBank employee Linda Malone said she enjoys the opportunity to leave the office and work outdoors.  

“We like working in the Metroparks because we like working in the community and working for the environment,” she said.

The impact of this annual environmental project has been objectively acknowledged by naturalists. Jacksy said the savannah area of Oak Openings is now recognized as one of the highest quality oak woodlands in the Great Lakes region.

While some KeyBank employees were making an environmental impact, others volunteered to make a difference in the lives of people. Returning to Josina Lott Residential and Community Services for the sixth year, volunteers were cheerfully welcomed by the residents with smiles and hugs. KeyBank’s Debbie VanHorn said, “We are friends here.  I think they look forward to this but not more than we do.”  

Residents invited volunteers to spend the afternoon with them playing games, making mosaics, planting flowers and dancing. Josina Lott volunteer coordinator Karen Weisman said, “The friendships that are built between KeyBank and the individuals we serve at Josina Lott cannot be underestimated.  This defines community.

“As a bank, we help to improve the financial infrastructure of our cities and towns,” said Jim Hoffman, KeyBank president. “But Neighbors Day comes from the heart: it reflects our employees’ commitment and desire to make a very personal contribution.”   

Nationwide, KeyBank’s 19th annual Neighbors Make the Difference Day included more than 7,500 employees volunteer 30,000 hours, representing a donation of $600,000 in employee time.

Cory Dippold is giving young people a reason to return to Toledo.

The Maria Stein, Ohio, native is director of youth programs for Youth Leadership Toledo. The program introduces high school sophomores to the region through firsthand experiences, while emphasizing the importance of community involvement.

“Some of the students who come in haven’t quite made that step yet to be standout leader,” he said “… at the end, they have passion and want to make a difference.”

It’s naïve to think that all students will stay in Toledo after high school, he said, but some might return and give back.

Dippold, 32, graduated from Owens with an associate degree in building maintenance; he also took classes at UT.

Coming from farm country, he appreciates Toledo because he can jump on his bicycle and go to the nearby McDonald’s.

“People are accessible,” he said of Toledo. “It is a big enough city that it has some  of the major attractions, and we are closer to even bigger cities.”

Dippold sits on the Youth Commission Board, and he can easily schedule a meeting with a county commissioner — something difficult in larger cities, he said.

Youth Leadership Toledo works with nominated high school sophomores who meet from August to May in monthly daylong sessions.

Leaders introduce the participants to a variety of community issues and concerns, including education, human diversity, conflict resolution and the judicial system. During the final phase of the program, students select and complete volunteer community improvement projects.

St. Francis sophomore Samuel Evola used to think there wasn’t much reason to stay in Toledo.

He planned to leave for college and never return. But after a year with Youth Leadership Toledo, his opinion has changed.

“We get to do a whole lot of different things,” Evola said. “We get to tour the zoo, and we got to tour the emergency response center in Downtown.

“We wouldn’t normally get to do these activities, and we get to go behind the scenes, instead of just going to the zoo.”

Graduates of the youth program can then participate in Youth In Philanthropy Encouraging Excellence (YIPEE) as juniors and seniors. Community Leadership Toledo is the adult program and founder of the youth program.

YIPEE is funded in part by the Toledo Community Foundation and facilitated by the staff of Leadership Toledo. The students raise and donate money to other youth organizations.

One of the more unique ways they raised money was rocking in rocking chairs at Cracker Barrel.

“We are definitely looking into other ways to expand the program,” Dippold said.

Some parents want to get their teens involved, but the school didn’t choose them for the program. One possibility is a one-day leadership training session open to all students in the Toledo area, he said.

“This is my dream job,” Dippold said. “I like to work with young people.”