Congratulations to Brett Favre and everything he’s accomplished. With his years in Green Bay, he has set records for passing yards, touchdowns, consecutive starts, interceptions, retirements, unretirements and straddling the fence. He’s done it all. This week he told the Minnesota Vikings that he just doesn’t have it in him to play a full season in the NFL, after a couple months of speculation and indecision. And who can blame him? It’s not easy to play in the NFL at his age.
Which is why this is the perfect time for Favre to try out for the Toledo Bullfrogs.
“But, Matt,” you’re saying to yourself (I hope), “isn’t arenafootball2 (af2) kind of below an NFL Hall of Famer’s standards?” Well, maybe. He sure won’t be playing against the type of defenses he was used to seeing every Sunday. But weren’t you listening, gentle reader? Favre said he can’t handle the NFL’s demanding schedule anymore. But af2 … well, thats something he could muster.
He might be too good. That’s a legitimate issue, perhaps, but it’s a problem every other team in the league would have. I don’t think a single casual fan of the Bullfrogs would reject the idea of having one of the greatest living quarterbacks on their team.
With the field half the size, just think of the touchdowns. If you thought Favre had fun in the NFL, just think of how much fun will be had at Lucas County Arena. It might actually be illegal to have that much fun. Yippee!
If we’re playing “Family Feud,” perhaps the No. 1 reason Brett Favre should try out for the Toledo Bullfrogs is a rumored reason Favre wanted to play for the Vikings in the first place. Minnesota plays two games against his former Packers every year. As it turns out, the Packers are not the only football team in that peaceful metropolis. The Green Bay Blizzard is one of the af2 teams in the Midwest Division. Give him the promise that Green Bay will be on the Bullfrogs schedule, perhaps throw in a pair of Wrangler jeans and a waffle maker, and the ol’ gunslinger won’t be able to resist the opportunity.

Lourdes College is offering a hybrid version of its Master of Organizational Leadership program this fall.
The original program was designed for traditional students who could commute one night a week to the college campus in Sylvania.  The hybrid version allows businesspeople and students outside commuting distance or who work during the evenings to enroll in the program.
The hybrid program will meet on campus two Saturdays for eight hours each day during the seven-week fall term. The remainder of the course can be completed online, according to Keith Ramsdell, director of graduate admissions.
“It will significantly benefit professionals who want to pursue their masters degrees at Lourdes but couldn’t.
“We are still accepting applications for the fall program,” Ramsdell said.

Keith Ramsdell (left) and Dean Ludwig, of Lourdes College.

Chrys Peterson, news anchor for WTOL, is enrolled for the fall term.
“The weeknight classes just didn’t work for my schedule, but I was excited to learn about the Saturday class, which works better for me and my family, as well as a lot of people in the same situation,” Peterson said.
The hybrid program is just one way Dean Ludwig, the new chairman of Business Leadership Studies, is making Lourdes more accessible.
Formerly, two separate programs, business and leadership, were combined into a single department under Ludwig’s direction for the upcoming academic year.
“Business and leadership will play an important role in the future with aggressive opportunities for growth,” he said. “We want business to grow along with the college’s goal to become a university.”
Business students comprise 20 percent of the 3,000 student population at Lourdes. Ludwig foresees that growing to 30 percent in the future.
Enhancing the interaction between the business programs at Lourdes and the local business community is a primary goal of Ludwig, who has both an academic and business background.
Ludwig helped to establish the Center for Family Business at UT. He served on the UT College of Business faculty in marketing and business management for 10 years and directed the university’s business honors program.
Ludwig earned his MBA and Ph.D. at the Wharton School of Business and studied theology at the University of California at Berkeley. He served at John Carroll University and spent 12 years as a member of the Jesuit religious order before leaving for the business world.
“My corporate, consulting and entrepreneurial experience in the private, nonprofit and public service sectors will help achieve our goals for business growth at Lourdes,” he said.
Ludwig worked at The Andersons, where he managed a new product launch for the company. He served as vice president of sales and marketing for a former subsidiary of the Sauder Woodworking Company in Archbold.
He later established Dean Ludwig Furnituremaker Ltd., designing and building custom wood furniture.
Ludwig said that he “was looking for the right opportunity to get back into academia, wanting to work with ideas and people.”
“I love to teach and plan to teach some business courses here,” he said. “The mission-driven character at Lourdes is why I came here. It’s all about the care of the whole person — intellectually, emotionally and spiritually — in this terrific academic atmosphere.”
Lourdes was recently named among the “10 Great Colleges To Work For” by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

I did not know Robert Brundage. But after reading about his life in Toledo Free Press (in a story written by daughter, Caitlin McGlade), it was not long before I recognized him. Being in an iterant vocation, I have met him before, many times, in virtually every community I have lived and worked. His name might not have been Brundage, he might not have even been a “he.” Many of these characters were devoutly religious, some not so much, if at all. They came out of different walks of life: business, labor, education, engineering, science. But their core character, their community vision, their activist passions all came from the same place: a communitarian soul.
In an age of rampant and unrepentant individualism, their gentle and persistent behavior seemed quaint and dated, like a Thornton Wilder play. But like Thornton Wilder’s plays, these characters were always turning up in old school auditoriums and other public venues. They went about their business, some quietly, some not so quietly, using their gifts and talents to improve schools, fight poverty, secure justice and making the community a better place.
If their souls were and are communitarian, their vision was and is covenantal. They think a “people” should be more than a collection of individuals who exploit the levers of societal life for the soul purpose of acquiring wealth at the cost of the environment or the health of the community. These communitarians think a people should be a “people …” a people bound together by a shared “covenant.” Another quaint concept. We live in a culture that is much more comfortable with contracts. If a contract is broken, relationships are severed; penalties must be paid. The offending party is written off. “We” are not responsible to “they” who failed to meet their obligation.
Covenants suggest that we belong to each other, regardless of the frailties, excesses and fallenness of human behavior. When a relationship fails, or an individual falls short of expectation, covenants require remediation, not condemnation … healing, not breaking … the difficult work of reconciliation, not the arrogant attitude of self-righteousness. So these characters with their communitarian souls and covenantal vision do things like tutoring kids at risk, arguing with officials and enjoining the Quixotic quest of making all things fair and just — even for angry and misguided 15-year-olds who commit unspeakable acts of violence. Go figure.
The smug among us will see this as folly. The Brundage tragedy will be used to confirm their sense of an entitled and self-imposed isolation from the inequities of society. This will justify their decision to squander all of their passion on the building of their personal empires aloof of the needs of others. It will feed those self-affirming homilies about pulling one’s self up by one’s own boot straps; God only helps those who help themselves, and helping “those” people is throwing good money after bad.
While the smug will often dismiss these communitarians as naive idealists, In many ways these characters with the communitarian souls are the true realists of the world. For their vision implies a reality that is indisputable: Everything from the air we breathe to the work we do to the ground on which we stand and the life we live is connected. Everything.
Like it or not, we are interdependent on each other, the environment and the source or sources of meaning that imbue our life with hope and purpose. They have learned that wonder shakes out of this interdependence. It is wonder that tempers all those personal orthodoxies that nurse our prejudices and feed our self-righteousness. It is wonder that pries open our imagination and expands our vision.
As I remember these characters, often quirky in demeanor but competent in action, it was their sense of wonder about things that was most endearing. These people can pour themselves into some of the most intractable problems of the day and still find great joy in all things. Brundage had this thing about ginkgo trees. For others it was jazz or story telling, or baseball, or stalking skunk cabbage blooms in February.
In Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” a disillusioned Emily asks, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? — every, every minute?” “No,” the stage manager replies. “The saints and poets, maybe — they do some.”
I would add the likes of Robert Brundage to that list.

Eric McGlade is a United Methodist pastor in Bowling Green.

Robyn Hage teaches music at Navarre Elementary School and sees kids from kindergarten through sixth grade whose families can’t afford to buy them school supplies.
She and other teachers often pay out of their own pockets to provide the kids with supplies, in addition to donations from St. Charles Hospital and supply drives organized by The Salvation Army.
“I would say that, oftentimes, it’s a self-esteem issue because they see other students that have supplies that they don’t have,” Hage said.
The number of families applying for backpacks stuffed with supplies from The Salvation Army has dramatically increased during the past few years, according to event coordinator Tracy Knappins. She said The Salvation Army is preparing to distribute 2,000 backpacks throughout Lucas, Ottawa and Wood counties.
The Salvation Army has organized a backpack and school supplies drive for first through eighth graders in the three counties for the past seven years. Last year, 1,700 kids received the backpacks, up from 1,500 the year before, Knappins said.
Charter One Bank funds the program with a $10,000 annual grant.
“We have been seeing people that we’ve never seen before, that have never asked for assistance before,” Knappins said.
To qualify, a family normally should fall at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this would equal a monthly income of about $3,533. However, Knappins said she and other Salvation Army employees make exceptions for families who don’t make the 200 percent cut if they have other strenuous circumstances, such as recent job loss or an ill child.
Donation boxes are located at The Andersons or any Charter One Bank location until Aug. 14 for anyone who wants to drop off school supplies. Last year, Knappins said the drive collected 69,714 items.
Hage said she doesn’t know how the students would cope without this type of supply drive.
“I think it would be detrimental to the student learning because I don’t think the teachers could compensate for all the supplies,” Hage said. “Typically, there might be only one parent that is employed.”
However, though the Salvation Army can fund a program for younger students, equipping high school students with supplies isn’t feasible.
“The funding is just not there for it,” Knappins said.
Families can apply for backpacks from Aug. 3 through Aug. 14, between 9  and 11 a.m., and 1 to 3 p.m. at the Salvation Army Office at 620 N. Erie St. The Salvation Army is also looking for volunteers to sort and prepare the backpacks. Volunteers can help by calling Knappins at (419) 241-1138 on Aug. 17 through  19.

Needed supplies

• 4 oz. bottle of school glue
• Glue stick
• Crayon
• Pencils
• Pens (blue, black and red)
• Colored pencils or markers
• Pencil sharpener
• Ruler
• Erasers
• Pair of children’s scissors
• Spiral notebooks
• Pocket folders
• Wide-ruled notebook paper
• Plastic box or pencil pouch

Summer weekends in the North Woods of Michigan are generally pretty tame affairs.
Flatlanders from downstate take over their cottages and cabins. ORVers and motorcyclists buzz the forest trails in increasing cacophony and profusion. The deer, the grouse, the wild turkeys … and the occasional bear … cover their ears and run for cover in the forest undergrowth.
We drive into nearby Mio to stock up on supplies for the week. Breakfast is at the Branch Cafe, where the friendly waitress puts in our orders without asking. Make our weekly trek to the landfill — as there’s no trash pick-up around these parts. And then, if we’re lucky, there’s a music festival or craft show to drop in on.
But last weekend was something else: Two days of nonstop action rarely experienced here above the Tension Line.
It all started benignly enough with a kindly invite from our neighbors to a Saturday afternoon family reunion, birthday party and backyard barbecue.
Pati and Donny Davis, year-round Luzerne residents who manage to keep themselves backbreakingly busy repairing and restoring log cabins and painting and designing residential interiors, also happen to be very good people. Taking in rescue greyhounds, nurturing retired racehorses and, when time, work and Pati permit, Donny also plays a mean guitar with bands of world renown.

Ted Smutek (bow) and Tim Sheldon in close company as they approach Cooke Dam during the Au Sable Canoe Marathon.

This particular reunion  was guaranteed to be something very special, as Pati’s niece, Geena Gall, and her family were coming up from their home in Grand Blanc for the occasion.
Gall just happens to be an All American, two-time NCAA National 800 meter track star who graduated this year from the University of Michigan. She’s now a newly minted Nike signee, member of the Oregon Track Club Elite and has just completed her first European tour, winning and placing in Italy and Belgium.
In August, she’s going back to Europe to compete in the World Track and Field Championships in Berlin and has promised (time permitting) to send us exclusive reports!
As a frustrated athlete, I could hardly wait to meet her — especially as Aunt Pati has been keeping us appraised of her successes via e-mail and over our split-rail fence for the past couple of years.
When the Galls finally arrived (a little late due to Geena’s running in a benefit mile through the streets of Charlevoix), she was low key, lovely…and seemed totally unfazed by her amazing accomplishments. She’s also looking at several more years of top level international competition including the Olympics in 2012 … or so she signed her autograph: “To one of my biggest fans. See you in London in 2012.”  I hope so.
Anyway, the planned barbecue had to be abandoned due to sudden torrential rains, so we all raced off down the dirt roads to the Ma Deeter’s eatery and drinkery, where we ate unhealthy food, danced to a rousing country band and returned in a fine state of afterglow!
Next morning, instead of a sleep-in Sunday like most sensible North Woodsmen, we were up at crack of dawn (6 a.m.!) to drive an hour to Cooke Dam on the Au Sable River to watch the Smuteks — owners of the local body repair shop in Luzerne — compete in the “world’s most grueling canoe marathon.”
The Au Sable River Weyerhaeuser Canoe Marathon is a daring and sometimes dangerous 120-mile dash through the night from Grayling to Oscoda along a thousand twisty, snaggy and often shallow water turns, with six tricky portages thrown in for good measure.
This year, some 90 two-person teams turned up from 20 states, including Alaska, three Canadian provinces and Belize, paddling 60 to 70 strokes a minute for 15 hours or more before 75 of them managed to reach the finish line.
We’re happy to report that all our Smuteks — father, son and daughter — completed the course. Patriarch Frank, who injured an arm in Mio but kept paddling for nine more hours despite his injury, finished in 57th spot. Not bad for a man 75 years young … and it typifies for us what canoe marathons are all about. Guts. Spirit. Hard training. An abiding love of competition. And camaraderie.
And that’s hard to beat.

E-mail Roger Holliday and Claudia Fischer at letters@toledofreepress.com.

UT is launching a new Rocket-2-Rocket Peer Mentoring Program designed to help first-year students adjust better to college and campus life.
A pilot program for 200 students will be conducted in 2009, with full implementation planned for fall 2010.
“We’re starting with a smaller pilot group before offering the program to everyone in 2010,” said Tracci Johnson of the Student Conduct Office at UT.
The 200 students were recruited from the Blue and Gold Scholars entering UT this fall. Other first-year students, including international students, will have an opportunity to sign up for peer mentoring during the Rocket Launch orientation program.
Johnson said UT recruited 75 students from leadership development programs to serve as mentors to those first-year students. Each mentor will complete training for the program before classes begin on Aug. 24 and will be responsible for mentoring one to three students.
“We recruited proven student leaders who are positively engaged on campus to serve as mentors,” said Jeff Witt of the Office of Student Involvement at UT.
Johnson and Witt are members of the administrative team from the Division of Student Affairs and UT Learning Collaborative who partnered to plan and execute the pilot program.
Each student mentor will report to one of 75 faculty or staff mentors recruited for the pilot program.
Two student mentors, Ashley Watson, a senior, and Colea Owens, a junior, both from Cleveland, said they are looking forward to serving as mentors and helping first-year students.
A mentorship kickoff party will be hosted for first-year students, mentors and faculty-staff mentors at the recreation center on Aug. 23, when the students will meet their mentors.
“We wanted them to meet in an informal social setting to get to know each other easily,” Witt said.
One of the other objectives of the mentoring program is the retention of first-year students.
“We want to have a transformative effect on the retention of first-year students with the persistence of continuing students who serve as peer mentors,” Johnson said.
A Peer Mentoring Center will be located in room 1512 of the Student Union as a place for mentors and students to meet and share their experiences.
The peer mentors will be expected to personally check with their students at least once a week in conversation and once a month in person. The mentors will be taking students to at least three on-campus activities or events each semester.
The mentors will be required to complete a session to learn about the dozens of offices and support programs on campus.
The mentors will actively contribute to student centeredness by gaining in-depth information about UT culture, resources and traditions. Johnson said mentors can qualify for a one- to three-hour credit course and receive peermentor certification by completing the pilot program.
Students participating in the mentoring program must maintain a 2.0 or better GPA to continue in it. The same GPA is used for students employed on campus, Witt said.
“We hope to recruit mentors for next year’s program from the first-year students participating in the pilot program this fall,” he said.

YMCA member laments South Y closing

TO THE EDITOR,
My name is Winie Barchick-Suter and I’m 10 years old. I live very close to the South branch of the Toledo YMCA on Ogden Avenue. I was very unhappy July 27 to learn that the closest YMCA to me was closing. I don’t think they should close the South Y because:
It is my and my neighbors’ activity center. People use it to exercise, for daycare, parties, meets or games. They use Woodsdale Park to walk pets, play games, have picnics, have practice, meet friends and just to have fun. And it’s a place where the whole neighborhood can do all of these things. These are the people in my neighborhood. I have come to know YMCA lifeguards and people who work at the front desk, too. I don’t want to not be able to see them again.
My neighbors and I can walk and ride bikes to the YMCA. If I go to the other branches, I won’t be able to walk there, walk my dogs or ride my bike there!
No more family centers in south Toledo? All the family centers are in the suburbs. None of them, except the south and west branches, is in the city limits. I’ll have to get my parents to drive twice as far just to go have fun. I’ll probably not be able to go to another YMCA for a long, long time.
A part of my neighborhood would be taken away. I like my neighborhood.  I can ride my bike to the library, South Y, Huggy Bear, Highland Park, Gino’s Pizza and St. Charles Church. And I know many people who work at these places. I am proud of my neighborhood.  My family and I help plant flowers at Highland Park. Without these places to ride to, I would not have a friendly place to live and grow-up.
This, to me, can’t be true, but it is.
I feel like the city keeps moving farther away from Downtown, and someday someone will say, “Hey, what happened to Toledo?” And we who live in the city parts will be totally forgotten. I read that YMCA is losing state funding for childcare so they are closing the South Y. So why is YMCA giving property away for free? If they need money, giving something away for free isn’t how you make money.
My point is that they shouldn’t close this YMCA because it is very useful and important to my neighborhood. If they do close the South Y, they are breaking apart my neighborhood.  Many employees may lose their jobs, and people might not even want to be a member of the YMCA/JCC anymore.
WINIE BARCHICK-SUTER,  Toledo

Truth or consequence

TO THE EDITOR,
Mr. Miller: No one of consequence reads the space you print.
STANLEY C. THEISEN Jr.

Mr. Theisen Jr.,
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
MM

Are they reading?

In the Blade pages of opinion I read on numerous occasions people commenting on the HealthCare bill and The Cap and Trade Bill. I wonder if these people have even read one paragraph from either one? I have read portions of each bill and I am more confused now than before. I feel that if you have not read these bills and totally understand them then you should not comment or vote on them. What do you think?
KEN ARMER, Toled

The Devil is in the details

And now for the million dollar question.  When President Obama was asked if his family will give up their rich federal healthcare coverage, he was evasive.  A number of senators were asked the same question and their response was “they’d think about it”.  The “Kennedy Care Bill” contains language that EXEMPTS Congress from the proposed national healthcare program.  Wow, that seems strange . . .  not good enough for our “Leaders” but OK for the rest of us.  Could it be that they don’t want to be subject to the rationing that will be imposed upon the rest of us?
WAYNE MILEWSKI, Whitehouse

Jenna Apthorpe was looking forward to summer vacation, a little freedom before her senior year of training at Penta Career Center to become a dental hygienist.
But it was a diagnosis of leukemia on June 10 that put all of her plans on hold and her future in question.
“I really didn’t understand what leukemia was,” Jenna said. “When I was told that I had it, the first word I thought of was ‘cancer’ and I automatically thought I was going to die.”
Jenna said that, when the doctor explained the illness to her, she began to think of it more as a cold and hoped her younger siblings would understand and not be as upset as she was after the diagnosis.
“They took them into a room to watch a video about leukemia before they came to see me because they wanted them to understand that I would be OK,” she said.
“When they came in, we all just cried together.”
Jenna has since started chemotherapy treatments to combat the leukemia, an emotional process that led to losing her hair and many other unwanted side effects, such as nausea, tiredness and fevers.
“I was freaking out about what people would think or how kids at school would react,” she said.
Support from her friends and family has been comforting.
“The hardest part was losing my hair, but everyone has been telling me how beautiful I am, and that helps,” she said. “It got easier when I just accepted it and stopped trying to cover it up.”

Jenna Apthorpe (right) sits with her aunt Janelle Ridens in Northwood.

Jenna will be returning to school in the fall but will have to make some changes to her lifestyle.
“I can’t eat in the cafeteria with all of the other kids because I’m more likely to get sick or infections because of the leukemia.”
The medical bills are growing for the Apthorpe family, which prompted Jenna’s father Mike to reach out to the community for help. He, along with other family members and friends, created “Jenna’s Hope,” a series of benefits and donation opportunities.
“It stresses my mom and dad because they really have to watch how they spend money now,” Jenna said. “Our family and friends have set so many things up to help us money-wise.”
A golf outing on July 19 was arranged in her honor and yielded large donations from individuals and local businesses.
“We really appreciate all of the help we’ve gotten so far,” Jenna said. “It made me feel very happy; everyone cried.”
Jenna is optimistic about her treatment and recovery.
“I have ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), and if you have to have leukemia, this is the kind you want,” she said. “It is curable, and I’m still learning more about it.”
Jenna’s advice to others is to always have hope.
“Be strong and remember that prayers do work,” she said. “That’s all I did was pray and so did my whole family. I just had faith, and that’s what you have to do.”
The next fundraiser for Jenna’s Hope is a spaghetti dinner that will take place 5 to 11 p.m. on Aug.15 at the Millbury Fire and Recreation Hall. The dinner will include silent auctions, a 50-50 raffle, a bake sale and T-shirts available for purchase. Tickets for the dinner are $10 for adults and $5 for children.
For more information, visit hope4jenna.com.

Here are some recent reader questions:
Jim C. from Toledo wanted to know why his replacement tires wore out in 35,000 miles, while his original-equipment tires lasted nearly 55,000 miles. Well, Jim, I don’t have ESP, but I would guess your vehicle is out of alignment or you ran them for a long time with improper air pressure. Just because your vehicle doesn’t pull from one side or the other doesn’t mean it is in alignment. Monitoring your tire-wear patterns can be a telltale sign of an alignment-related problem even if you don’t feel a pull. Have your alignment checked at a reputable shop.
Winfield S. from whereabouts unknown wanted to know how to tell if the fuel he is purchasing is of high quality. Well, Winfield, that’s a great question and it deserves a thoughtful answer. I could tell you that two government agencies here in Ohio, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ohio EPA have set fuel quality standards and are responsible for ensuring that those standards are met, so we have nothing to worry about. However, another government agency is telling me all the money that they have been taking out of my paychecks for years will run out in 2017 (read the fine print on this year’s Social Security statement), so I don’t have much faith in that either the state or federal EPA administration offices are keeping close tabs on the actual quality of fuel coming from the pumps. So how can we really know if the fuel were buying is any good? Its all about our vehicle’s fuel mileage. Keep a close eye on your vehicle’s actual fuel mileage every time you fill up. Assuming your car is in a good state of repair, you should get nearly the same fuel mileage from one tank to the next. Once you find a fuel that your vehicle seems to like, stick with it! Poor fuel mileage from a certain fuel brand, or gas station, is a good indication that the fuel has less energy stored within it or that it may be contaminated in some way.  Steer clear of any fuel that doesn’t deliver close to your average overall fuel mileage. I have found that Sunoco fuel works well in my bike, while BP works best in my car. I buy 93 Octane for my bike and 87 Octane for my car. Your vehicle may like a different brand.
Keeping track of your fuel mileage is a great way to tell if something is amiss with your engine as well. If your fuel mileage drops suddenly, look for the root cause of the problem. Failure to seek out the problem will only cause the problem to find you. Chances are it will cost you more to wait for that to happen.
My last question for this week comes from Amy T., who lives in the west end. Amy has an odor coming from her air conditioning ducts whenever the a/c is operated. Amy, you probably have a mildew situation within your a/c system’s evaporator core. You can try one of the many products designed to kill the mildew which are available from your local parts store.
Just ask the person behind the counter for help, and they will show you what products they have. Be sure to follow the directions on the label. If the deodorizer off the shelf doesn’t work, then it will be necessary to have a service technician address this situation. Not to worry, Amy, this happens all the time; usually there is an easy fix.
Be sure and check your car’s air and cabin filters regularly. The air on these hot days is filled with dust and dirt that can rapidly decrease your filter’s efficiency. Also be aware that your lawn mower’s air filter becomes restricted much quicker than any other piece of equipment you own.
I enjoy taking your questions and I apologize for not answering them sooner. Keep reading and I assure you I will get to them as fast as I can.

Nick Shultz is an instructor of Automotive Technologies at Owens Community College. He is an arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau who specializes in cases involving the Ohio and Michigan Lemon laws. He is a certified master automotive technician by ASE, General Motors Corp.  and Ford Motor Co. Shultz, a Toledo native, will take questions from letters@toledofreepress.com.

When Meridith Moran sends her son Cameron to kindergarten in August, she expects it will be a proud and bittersweet moment for the two of them.
“It’s amazing that my child is old enough to be entering kindergarten, but at the same time, it makes me sad that the time has gone so fast and that he’s already going to be gone for most of the day,” Moran said. “It’s great that he’s at this point, but you kind of wish they could stay home with you forever.”
Cameron, 5, will be attending kindergarten at Maplewood Elementary School in Sylvania. Moran said he’s both excited and anxious about the milestone.
“The one thing that has made him nervous is realizing that his friends from preschool aren’t going to be at kindergarten with him,” Moran said. “But we’ve reassured him that it will be OK and that he’s going to make new friends and have fun.”

Cameron Moran, 5, and his mom Meridith study a lesson book in preparation for school.

Cameron, who is a tad shy, Moran noted, recently attended Safety Township sponsored by Sylvania Township, which helped to ease some of his fears about starting school.
“He had a good experience and met the kids he’d be going to kindergarten with,” she said. “It made me realize that he’s going to be OK and that he was fine with me leaving him. I think it’s made for a nice transition from preschool into kindergarten.”
Riding the bus to school, carrying a backpack and even doing homework are the some of the things Cameron is looking forward to, his mom said.
“Homework seems really cool to him, so we’ll give him a year,” she said, laughing.
Preparing Cameron for the big day has been ongoing for Moran and her husband, who have made sure he knows his address, phone number and how to spell his name.
In addition, each time Cameron has experienced a milestone, such as losing a tooth or learning to tie his shoes, Moran said they’ve used the experience as a springboard for talking about kindergarten readiness.
“We tell him that’s he a big boy and that’s why he’s going into kindergarten,” she said.
As much as Cameron has been prepped for his first day of kindergarten, Moran said she’s realized that parents also need to be prepared for the transition.
“The preparation is for parents too,” Moran said, “because it is an emotional milestone. I have to prepare myself that Cameron is going to be OK and that even though he’s growing up; he’s not moving out of the house just yet.”
Moran expects that she’ll get emotional on Cameron’s big day – “I had to hold back the tears at Safety Township and it was only a week,” she said – and plans to have her camera in hand to capture her son’s momentous occasion.