On a cold, sunny and windy afternoon at the Glass Bowl on Black Friday, sophomore wide receiver and Springfield graduate Eric Page was on fire as his five touchdowns fueled Toledo’s 42-31 victory over Central Michigan on Senior Day to close out the regular season. His team will now prepare for a likely bowl game for the first time in five years, which will be determined by Dec. 5 at the latest.

“I just want to be around this team,” Toledo head coach Tim Beckman said. “To me, it really doesn’t matter where we go. As I mentioned before, my wife doesn’t like me home in December, so now I have the opportunity to fulfill her dreams, and that’s not being home in December.”

Page finished the game with 372 all-purpose yards. He racked up 127 yards on 12 catches with two touchdowns, threw one touchdown pass for 28 yards to redshirt freshman quarterback Terrance Owens, had one punt return for two yards and three kickoff returns for 215 yards, running two back for scores of 99 and 95 yards, respectively.

“It seems like we talk about this each and every week about Eric Page,” Beckman said. “Eric Page is a phenomenal player. He’s got a great surrounding cast. When we need to make a play, Eric seems to make those and does a great job not just offensively, but on special teams also.”

“It felt good because we got the win at the end,” Page said of his performance. “I think we’re just excited to play another game.”

In his third career start, Owens finished with career highs in completions and yards after going 24-of-32 for 304 yards and three touchdowns, also on the receiving end of another score on his catch and run from Page in the fourth quarter that put his team up by 18.

“The seniors, they all believed in me,” Owens said on becoming the starting quarterback after sophomore quarterback Austin Dantin got hurt. “They gave me confidence that I could step up and execute.”

The Rockets (8-4, 7-1 Mid-American Conference) wasted no time getting on the board in their contest with the Chippewas, scoring on their third play from scrimmage on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Owens to junior wide receiver Kenny Stafford to go up 7-0 with 13:39 remaining in the first quarter. It didn’t take long for Central Michigan (3-9, 2-6 MAC) to answer, however, as Ohio native Ryan Radcliff orchestrated an 11-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run from Carl Volny to tie the game at seven apiece by the 8:54 mark of the first quarter.

Thirteen seconds later, Toledo went back up by seven after Page returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards to the house with 8:41 remaining in the first, and his team ended the quarter with a 14-7 advantage. In the second quarter, Page caught a pass on the right side from Owens and outhustled two defenders on his way to the end zone for the nine-yard score to give the Rockets a 21-7 lead with 11:56 left on the clock. Just over three minutes later, Toledo went up 28-7 following a 25-yard strike from Owens to Page for each player’s third touchdown of the game by the 8:49 mark. The Chippewas countered with a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Zurlon Tipton to make it 28-14 with 3:31 on the board, and that score would remain by halftime.

Central Michigan cut the Rockets’ lead to 28-17 at the 10:42 mark of the third quarter after a 33-yard field goal from David Harman. However, Page again answered with another kickoff return for a touchdown 13 seconds later—this time on a 95-yarder—to put Toledo up 35-17. In the fourth quarter, the Chippewas’ Vince Agnew blocked freshman punter Vince Penza’s punt attempt and Lorenzo White recovered the football in the end zone to make it 35-24 with 13:02 left to play in the game. Facing second and two from the Central Michigan 28-yard line on the Rockets’ next possession, Owens threw to Page on the right side, who then threw back to Owens, and Owens ran the rest of the way to paydirt for the 42-24 lead at the 10:39 mark.

The Chippewas hung around after another touchdown run from Tipton on their ensuing drive from two yards out made it 42-31 with 7:23 on the clock. On Toledo’s next possession, Penza’s punt attempt was blocked by Kyle Zelinsky and recovered by White at the Rockets’ 15-yard line. However, junior defensive tackle Malcolm Riley sacked Radcliff on the first play of Central Michigan’s ensuing drive, causing Radcliff to fumble. Fellow junior defensive tackle Johnie Roberts recovered to prevent the comeback and seal the win.

“It’s been a blessing,” senior linebacker Archie Donald said of how the final season of his college career has turned out. “I came to Toledo because it’s a winning program. Going to a bowl game is big, and that’s what we look forward to. It’s going to be great to come together as a family and play one more game.”

Thirty years ago, a vote like the one just decided in this university town wouldn’t have happened; gay-rights activism hadn’t taken root across most of America. Thirty years hence, such votes may seem a historical curiosity in a time of equality for gays.

Right now, though, the gay rights movement is at a tipping point, as epitomized by Bowling Green’s divisive referendum on extending anti-discrimination protections to gays. The vote was so close that it took three extra weeks to determine whether the two measures passed.

Nationally, gay-rights supporters and their conservative opponents are trading victories and setbacks, and the public is deeply divided on same-sex marriage. Could the push for full equality be stalled or reversed? Probably not, if public opinion evolves at its current pace.

“All you have to do is look at the demographics and you can see this is as inevitable as anything,” said Michael Klarman, a Harvard Law School professor who has studied the civil rights and gay rights movements.

Surveys repeatedly find that young adults, far more so than their elders, support the rights of gays to marry and serve openly in the military. A Gallup poll earlier this year showed, for the first time, a majority of Americans saying same-sex relations were morally acceptable. Increasing numbers of Americans personally know gays and lesbians, and positive portrayals of them abound on TV and in films.

“The more gay-friendly an environment you create, the more people come out as gay,” Klarman said. “When people know other people are gay — family, co-workers — they find it harder and harder to dislike them and deny them equal rights.”

Social conservatives see those trends as clearly as liberals do, though they may hope for a different outcome.

“There is a sense of inevitability of moral standards diminishing that is frustrating for many,” said the Rev. Scott Estep, pastor of a popular Bowling Green church, Dayspring Assembly of God.

The church of 700-plus members, on the Dixie Highway north of town where roadside businesses give way to open farmland, is attended by leading opponents of the two ordinances, though the pastor himself made no formal endorsement of either side.

“I’m concerned about the kind of environment my children will grow up in,” said Estep, who considers homosexual behavior one sin among many. He suggested, not despairingly, that his son and daughter “will be faced with a lot more decisions and diversity than I did.”

Both sides in the Bowling Green campaign recognized that they were part of a bigger picture — evidenced by the involvement of national gay-rights organizers whose savvy, in the end, helped the ordinances win approval after a bitter 16-month debate.

“We became a small battleground in a larger war,” said John Zanfardino, the city councilor who introduced the ordinances in 2009, miscalculating that their enactment would be swift and smooth.

The battleground is a northwest Ohio town of 30,000 residents, plus 18,000 university students. Its county was carried by George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election and by Barack Obama in 2008.

Mayor John Quinn is already talking about the need to heal the wounds opened by the referendum campaign.

“Some of it wasn’t as pretty as I’d have liked,” he said. “I don’t want to use the word hate, but some people have very strong anti-gay feelings.”

To local conservatives managing the No campaign, the ordinances were an unneeded gesture of political correctness in a community where, in their view, blatant discrimination hadn’t been a problem. They said the ultimate goal was to undermine Ohio’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage — part of surge of similar bans in other states — as a step toward legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

“It’s about trying to impose on our community a political agenda,” said real estate agent Ed Sitter, who was active in the No campaign. “The militant homosexuals want their lifestyle elevated to the same level as the civil rights movement.”

Though he and his allies resented the role of outside organizers on the Yes side, Sitter views their town-by-town strategy as formidable.

“They’re looking 15-20 years ahead,” he said. “They’re more committed to their cause than we are.”

In Bowling Green, the battle lines for the referendum were drawn in August 2009, when the city council heard earnest testimony, pro and con, from dozens of citizens, and then approved the two ordinances by votes of 7-0 and 6-1.

The measures add sexual orientation and gender identity as categories covered by local anti-discrimination laws — one deals with housing, the other with access to public facilities and employment by businesses and schools.

Among those urging the council to reject the measures was Gary Thompson, a landlord and owner of a carpet-cleaning firm who later became a major financial backer of the No campaign.

“You can legislate more and more, but you can’t force people to believe in something they don’t agree with,” he said.

Other opponents said the ordinances were too vague. Several, while insisting they didn’t endorse discrimination, said landlords and business owners should be free to turn down gays or transsexuals seeking jobs or rental units.

By the end of the council hearing, Zanfardino — the sort of 59-year-old who is still taking guitar lessons — had revised his upbeat outlook.

“I realized I was wrong about this being a piece of cake and understood how much intolerance there was in this town,” he recalled during a conversation at Grounds for Thought, a Main Street coffee shop/bookstore adopted by Bowling Green liberals as their hangout of choice.

Within weeks after the council passed the ordinances, conservative opponents collected enough signatures to challenge them — and on Nov. 2 voters had the final say.

The initial tally revealed an almost 50-50 split: The housing measure was approved by 24 votes out of more than 8,100 ballots cast while the other measure lost by 116. Over the next three weeks, the election board reviewed hundreds of provisional ballots _ mostly cast by Bowling Green State University students — and on Nov. 22 announced the final result: Both measures had won approval.

David Miller, for 30 years the editor of the local newspaper, the Sentinel-Tribune, said the ordinances generated the largest outpouring of letters to the editor in the paper’s history, 119 published letters in all.

“It was a good fight on both sides,” Miller said.

However, each campaign came away aggrieved.

The No side believes it won a majority of votes from longtime residents and lost only because of their rivals’ success in registering university students with no long-term stake in the town’s future.

No campaign spokeswoman Crystal Thompson said the Yes side at times was “very belligerent” and she complained that some businesses which put up “No” placards were threatened with boycotts.

The Yes side was outraged at dire warnings emerging from the No camp in speeches and fliers — that passing the ordinances might fuel the spread of AIDS or enable men dressed as women to make menacing forays into women’s restrooms on the premise that they were transgender. Problems related to bathrooms have been negligible in the 13 states and scores of municipalities which have such anti-discrimination laws, gay-rights activists say.

Yes campaign leader Jane Rosser, who oversees community-service programs at Bowling Green State, said it was sobering that her side barely prevailed despite a huge advantage in money and volunteers. “If change is going to happen, it has to happen community by community, face to face,” she said.

Charlie Applebaum, a professor emeritus of math, said the opposition to gay-rights measures reminded him of the animosity toward advances by blacks and women in past decades.

“I know people on the other side — people I’ve known for years,” he said. “I was surprised that they were on that side.”

Kay Chapman, 53, who has lived openly in the town with her lesbian partner for many years, said, “It hurts that your neighbors and possibly even some of your friends don’t think you deserve the same rights that they have.”

High school chemistry teacher Ken Diamond also was dismayed by the closeness of the vote, but added of gay-rights opponents: “History will prove them wrong. It’s generational. For younger people it’s a no-brainer.”

Phil Burress, a Cincinnati-based conservative leader who backed the No campaign, challenged the premise of inevitability.

“It’s normal that young people tend to be liberal,” he said. “When they marry and start having children, they change.”

Sean Martin, 26, a religiously devout lawyer working pro bono for the No campaign, said he and his colleagues weren’t preoccupied with how history would judge them.

“We believe in being right on these issues now,” he said.

For many voters, a decision on the ordinances came easily. Others wrestled with nuances.

The Rev. Michael Dandurand, who ministers to Roman Catholic students as pastor of St. Thomas More University Parish, said many students asked for guidance. Bottom line from the diocese: Discrimination is wrong, but the ordinances were “cause for concern” because they gave sexual orientation equal status with religion.

Dandurand challenges his youthful parishioners to respect Catholic teaching, yet overall, he says, “the horse is out of the barn” in a popular culture that embraces gay rights and nonmarital sex.

“I don’t want to be a Pollyanna,” he said. “It will be harder to live one’s Christian values in our culture.”

The referendum also posed challenges for Estep, the Dayspring pastor, who disappointed some members of his church by declining to publicly endorse the No campaign.

“There’s been quite a quandary for many of us — not wanting to alienate or condemn anyone, but not wanting to compromise our convictions,” he said in an interview in his office as the nearby lobby buzzed with youths preparing for a retreat.

That evening, Estep accepted the Yes campaign’s invitation to attend a press event, and offered a prayer of reconciliation in hopes Bowling Green’ rifts could be healed.

“I am an eternal optimist,” he said. “I believe it is possible to turn friction into traction.”

This Associated Press report was written by David Crary

With 18 professional artists and counting, the Pop-Up Art Gallery will reopen in time for the Christmas shopping season. The monthlong gallery is making its second appearance in Toledo. Works in a variety of media will be for sale, including ceramics, glass, mixed media, fiber arts, photography, jewelry and more.

Annette Moriarty, Nancy Beeman and Mary Pat Peltier

Mary Pat Peltier, Annette Moriarty and Nancy Beeman are coordinating the artists, and said their goal is to showcase local professional works and promote business through the spontaneous gallery.
“It pops up out of nowhere,” Peltier said.
The three artists met through shows and will each have their artwork in the gallery. Knit and crocheted pieces by Peltier, felted wraps and scarves by Moriarty and functional ceramic pieces by Beeman. The three women are looking to add artists to the event, which is an all-volunteer effort, and emphasized that it was a group production to bring the show to life.
“We try to keep it broad and keep the quality high. Many of the artists are well-known to the area,” Beeman said.
Toledo area artists featured in the gallery include Steven Athanas, Suzanne Beavis, Amy Beeler, Michelle Carlson, Laurie Dembicki, Anne French, Ann Hymel, Mary Lane, Ellen Loeffler-Kalinoski, Jennifer Marcson, Leonard Marty, Lois Morgan, Lynne Saad, Jan Thomas and Mary Weiss.
The Pop-Up Art Gallery will open with a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 26 with live music and refreshments. Located in a former kitchen showroom in the Davis Building on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and North Michigan Street, the space lends itself well to display the multitude of artwork.
“I like it when people are looking at artwork and smiling and laughing,” Beeman said. “I hope they take away a really great impression from looking at high-quality artwork in a fun space with a well thought out show.”
The gallery is open through Dec. 23 to facilitate shopping. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Beeman said she hopes the gallery will “pop-up” in various locations throughout the year if the success continues.

A German doctor testified Nov. 25 that John Demjanjuk is receiving better care in a Munich prison hospital than in the U.S. and that his health has “not significantly changed” since his trial began as reported from The Associated Press in Munich.

Demjanjuk, 90, suffers from low hemoglobin and a variety of other health issues, and has had at least 9 blood transfusions since his trial began last November.

The retired Ohio auto worker is standing trial on 28,060 counts of accessory to murder for allegedly having been a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland. Demjanjuk denies ever being a camp guard, saying he has been mistaken for someone else.

Demjanjuk attends court sessions lying in a hospital bed, usually wearing dark sunglasses. In recent weeks, his defense team has argued that his health has deteriorated to the point that he is in so much pain he is unable to follow the proceedings.

But Dr. Christoph Nerl, a blood specialist, told the Munich state court that his condition has not significantly changed, and that his last blood transfusion was Oct. 5 and that his hemoglobin levels are now fine.

Nerl testified that of 31 blood examinations since April, 23 showed good hemoglobin levels, five were borderline and three were dangerously low.

The doctor told the court that Demjanjuk has benefited from drug treatments given to him in Germany that he had been unable to get in the U.S., because “in the USA he was not insured any more.”

“In general he is doing better here than in the USA,” Nerl testified.

But Demjanjuk’s son told The Associated Press that his father’s medical care in the U.S. was top-notch.

“Dr. Nerl’s testimony is false and intended only to support the court’s wishes,” John Demjanjuk Jr. said in an e-mail. “My father had very good medical insurance here as a Ford retiree and had doctors who cared for him without the pressure of politically motivated judges influencing their opinions.”

On Nov. 23 John Demjanjuk’s attorney asked a Munich court to free his client for the duration of his trial.

Ulrich Busch says the time the retired Ohio autoworker has already served behind bars in the U.S., Israel and Germany is greater than his maximum possible sentence.

Demjanjuk was already acquitted in Israel of having been a guard at Treblinka.

A U.S. Justice Department report made public last week says the Israeli court also considered the Sobibor charges.

Busch argued in his motion that Demjanjuk should get credit for the 7 1/2 years he was in custody in Israel, plus a year in the U.S. and 18 months in Germany.

When the terrorists used hijacked airplanes to strike their targets Sept. 11, 2001, I lived just a few miles from the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. My apartment was in an oceanfront building, and it was my habit to come home from work and waste as little time as possible between walking in the door in work clothes and walking back out the door ready to swim in the warm and usually gentle Atlantic. It used to entertain me for hours, watching the scores of women on the beach and the scores of planes flying in and out of the airport. The miracles and mechanics of both the female body and jetliners are equally mysterious and awe-inspiring, and, coincidentally, both are routinely for sale in South Florida.
On the first few days following the Sept. 11 attacks, I would drift along the coast and stare into the blue skies for hours at a time, fascinated by the lack of airplanes overhead. The emotions and impressions of that horrific week are preserved in increasingly clinical passages of my memory, but those hours spent looking at an empty sky remain as clear and bright to me as anything that is happening right now.
On the second day after the attacks, as I floated in the surf and watched the silent skies, three military jets cracked through the clouds and flew toward Miami, gone as fast as I could register what they were. Then, silence and empty sky. I remember wishing I had a talent for poetry, so I could encapsulate the fear, grief and unease that surrounded that September week, all manifested in the empty skies and undisturbed clouds.
During that era, Shannon, my wife-to-be, lived in Ann Arbor. One of us would fly to see the other just about every month. Single-seat flying in coach was not too expensive, and it was sadly romantic to walk each other through the terminal, to the gate, and wave goodbye as the loved one walked with the line of people to board the plane.
We did not know it in those mid-September days, but the sons of bitches who hijacked four airplanes and destroyed millions of dollars in property and thousands of priceless lives forever changed everything we knew about flying.
Shannon was supposed to fly to Fort Lauderdale on Sept. 12, 2001, but it was more than a month before we could re-arrange the visit. When I arrived to pick her up, I was stunned and saddened by what I saw. Military vehicles lined the entrance to the airport. Broward County police joined state troopers, their cars barricading the arrival and departure lanes. Inside the airport, National Guardsmen with automatic rifles lined the walkways to the gate, a gate that was closed. Never again would parting travelers walk with their loved ones to the gate and watch them walk to the plane.
And the lines! Lines at curbside, lines at check-in, lines to present boarding passes, lines for the metal detectors and scanners. What was once a fairly simple routine was now a gantlet of fear and suspicion.
At the time, I, like most people, accepted the changes as a necessary but temporary evil. Who knew what nefarious follow-up plans were already set in motion, and since it would undoubtedly take our military a month or so to track down and capture Osama bin Laden and his gang of bastards, it was better to be safe than to be incinerated when one’s plane was flown into the side of a steel building.
If anyone had told me then that nearly 10 years later, not only would bin Laden still be free, but that airport security would be 100 times more imposing and extreme, I might have shredded my frequent-flyer cards.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin
Yeah, well, jolly old Ben never had to navigate Fort Lauderdale International Airport with two toddlers.
Every Thanksgiving, my wife, two little boys and I fly back to South Florida to see my brother and celebrate an early Christmas. Flying with two big suitcases, two carry-ons, two car seats, a double stroller and the odds and ends that collect around a 2-and 4-year-old is close to reality show survival conditions. Only so much liquid can be packed, all electronics must be scanned, everyone’s shoes must come off — thanks to failed “shoe bomber” and successful a-hole Richard Reid — and the stroller has to be disassembled to its wheels.
At what point does liberty removed compensate for safety gained? The current focus on the Transportation and Safety Administration’s (TSA) latest efforts to keep us safe is apparently the breaking point. Here are your choices: Submit to full-body scanners that allow TSA workers to see your naked body, a manual hands-on search married men do not experience from strange hands, a possible $11,000 fine and arrest for refusal or … start walking.
Things are so bad and tense, a man warning a TSA worker, “Don’t touch my junk” has become as Internet famous as the “Hide yo kids hide yo wife hide yo husband cuz they be rapin’ everybody” guy.
On Thanksgiving morning, my family will board a plane and head to South Florida. I feel bad for the TSA crew that has to see my naked image just hours before their turkey dinners, but we all have to sacrifice for security, right?
What I am not happy about is thinking of my wife and toddlers being subjected to any kind of manhandling or invasion of privates.
By the time you read this, we will be in South Florida enjoying the holiday, the first half of our TSA hurdle behind us. And I really, really hope that when we return, the TSA will not have given me anything to write about.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Call him at (419) 241-1700 EXT. 223 or e-mail him at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

There will be millions of turkeys cooked and consumed this Thanksgiving holiday, but once the dishes are cleared and the food coma commences, there will still be plenty of gobblers walking among us. Here is a lighthearted look at some of the more interesting turkeys of the moment.
Xunlight. It has been reported that the solar panel firm most often associated with forging a new technological future in our region opened a plant in China earlier this year. There are more than a few ways to spin this, but the bottom line is that a company fostered, nurtured and respected here in Northwest Ohio has invested money and people as far from our ZIP code as possible. Officials are quick to claim that no state or Regional Growth Partnership/Rocket Ventures money was used to establish the China plant, but unless those groups are tracking serial numbers on dollar bills, how can they be sure? It is telling that Xunlight did not mention the Chinese facility until it was outed in a Wall Street Journal story. This is the first cloud to cross an otherwise stellar success story, and it will be interesting to see how this impacts Xunlight’s local standing.
Andrew Z. To be clear, Andrew Zepeda says he is innocent, and until Wood County authorities prove otherwise, he gets the benefit of the doubt. He earns turkey status not just for any of the accusations he faces under indictment for tax issues and crimes related to a break-in, but for calling a news conference Nov. 17 to disparage Perrysburg police and accuse them of trying to smear his name. Whether Zepeda is guilty of the charges, innocent or a combination of the two, badmouthing cops is not the way to establish good will and keep one’s reputation intact.
Facebook users who post before they think. People need to remember that a Facebook post is a lot like a folded note passed under a desk in high school; most go unnoticed, but every once in a while the wrong authority sees an embarrassing note and shares it with everyone. Recently, the aforementioned Andrew Z.’s troubles provoked a number of normally rational people into doing little verbal schadenfreude dances with nasty comments. When a Columbia Gas of Ohio facility went up in flames Nov. 17, one person on Facebook posted that it would “teach them a lesson.” Really? What lesson is there to be learned from an accident that endangers life and property? Toledo City Councilwoman Lindsay Webb recently posted a smackdown of fellow councilperson Joe McNamara that she took down. People need to realize that there is no such thing as “private” on these social networking sites.
Toledo City Council candidates. Looking at a preliminary list of Democratic candidates for the seat being vacated by Michael Ashford is like looking at a list of movie serial killers that refuse to go away. We always want to encourage people to come forward and lead, but some of these recycled names truly have feathers and beaks. With the official vote now showing Carol Contrada has about a 190-vote lead, another turkey moment could be the Lucas County Democratic Party asking for names before it knew the outcome.
Ben Konop. Four years in office and now he’s worried about saving money. His proposal to strip the county’s Children Services Board and the Board of Developmental Disabilities of voter-approved levy monies because he doesn’t like their budget surpluses earns him one last turkey leg on his way out the door.

Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.

As Northwest Ohio seeks to secure its economic footing, it should consider culture both a stabilizer and a driver. The benefits of a community rich with arts and culture are numerous and profound. The most often recognized attributes are performing and gallery events, public art and murals, vibrant artist communities, cultural tourism and in general an improved quality of life. What is often overlooked is the power of the arts and cultural sector as the economic engine that it is. With a shifting economy (and just about every other facet of American life) it is critical to identify, embrace and support those sectors of our community that are performing at high rate. The arts in Toledo and the broader Northwest Ohio Community are humming. Listen up.
Nationally, there is a growing interest in the business of arts and creative industries, and substantial research on their impact. The Americans for the Arts (AFTA), the leading arts advocacy and research organization, defines this sector into six categories: Museums and Collections; Performing Arts; Visual Art and Photography; Film, Radio and Television; Design and Publishing; and Schools and Services.
In 2007 the Center for Regional Development at BGSU studied the economic impact of the Creative Industries in the 27 counties in Northwest Ohio and the results were incredible. Below are highlights of the financial impact of the sector:
O Generates $2.4 billion annually in NW Ohio
O Supports 33,426 jobs annually in NW Ohio
O Generates $97 million in state and local taxes
O Generates $151 million in federal tax revenues
To put these figures into a human scale, an employment equivalent analysis was also performed. The results were equally surprising. Those working in Northwest Ohio creative industries equal:
O 10 North Toledo Jeep assembly plants, or
O 95 Bass Pro Shop stores, or
O 10 Whirlpool plants, or
O Equal to entire labor force of Sandusky County
Can you recall the energy stirred to secure a location for Bass Pro Shop’s new facility and how its potential for economic impact was celebrated? Imagine if this region generated the same enthusiasm for a sector that employs the equivalent of 95 Bass Pro Shops.
The American for the Arts provided the Arts Commission with a January 2010 study of the Creative Industries specific to the city of Toledo proper. The results are equally impressive with 424 arts related businesses, employing 3,035 people. These figures only represent those registered with Dun and Bradstreet (the world’s leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses) and is an underrepresentation of hundreds of local artists and nonprofit organizations. To put this in perspective, that is more people than Owens Corning employs in the state of Ohio. While I’m sure the pay scales differ, it is a clear demonstration of the impressive impact of the arts on the local economy, and in my opinion, a clear indicator that our local economic development agencies should be actively pursuing creative businesses to relocate to our area with the same intensity they are focusing on other sectors.
To drill down even further, let’s look at the impact of a single arts organization’s fundraising event. Earlier this month the Arts Commission held its biennial Hot Glass auction. It was the culmination of a monthlong exhibition featuring 90 artists and 102 works of fine art glass. The exhibition featured local, regional, national and international artists, offering those artists wholesale payment for their artwork with proceeds above that going to the Arts Commission to support its programs and services. There were several hundred people in attendance and the event was a
success on many levels.
Keeping with the theme, let’s take a look at the numbers. The event raised $84,000 for the delivery of Arts Commission programs and services. An additional $22,800 was raised for the Young Artist at Work Program (a teen employment program in the arts that hires an approximate 60 youth a year for six weeks in the summer). As previously mentioned, artists are paid wholesale for their work. With 84 percent of the auction items selling, $110,000 will be paid back to artists with $42,500 going directly to Ohio and Michigan artists. Another $24,000 went toward event expenses such as food, sound and lighting, printing and display, all services being provided by local businesses. This single event brought together business support, nonprofit partnership and private citizens for a whopping $240,000 of economic activity, not including the indirect impact generated such as clothing, bar and restaurant sales.
The bottom line is the arts are big business for the greater Toledo community. They enhance quality of life and make our region more appealing to businesses seeking to relocate to affordable markets. They energize our urban core, making our city more likely to keep our youth who are seeking cultural activity in other cities. Arts and culture represent a sector where public/private partnerships play the role of creating economic activity at many levels.
As you are seeking gifts for your family and friends this holiday season I strongly urge you to consider purchasing memberships to local arts and cultural organizations and/or works of art from local and regional artists. Not only is the gift of art a unique purchase, it is a wise investment and will most likely elevate you to coolest family member status. You may browse a directory of local artists, galleries and arts-related businesses and upcoming holiday art events on our website at www.acgt.org.

Marc Folk is the director of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.

The Glacity Theatre Collective is offering patrons twice the holiday cheer with a double header from bestselling author David Sedaris. The evening will feature the return of Sedaris’ beloved Christmas classic “The Santaland Diaries” as well as the Glacity debut of “Season’s Greetings.” The festivities will open in the Valentine Theatre’s Studio A on Nov. 26.
The pair of holiday treats is being directed by Glacity veteran Cornel Gabara.
“The SantaLand Diaries” marks the return of Dave DeChristopher as everyone’s favorite department store Christmas elf, while “Season’s Greetings” showcases the talents of another local favorite, Pamela Tomassetti. Tomassetti previously appeared in the Glacity production of “Betrayal.”
“I learned a lot working on the production last year. People come in expecting Sedaris one-liners, but this time around I’m experimenting with ways to deepen the character,” said DeChristopher, who contributes locally themed crossword puzzles to Toledo Free Press. “I was apprehensive about playing the role again, because I wanted to try something new, but over the last few months I’ve really been getting excited.”
Both plays are based on pieces published in Sedaris’ book “Barrel Fever and Other Stories” in 1994. They also appeared in the author’s later collection “Holidays on Ice” in 1997.
“When I approached the material the first time I think I was afraid to be so negative in the beginning of the piece, because I wasn’t sure how the audience would take it,” DeChristopher said. “Now though, I just think that the whole night is just going to be a lot of fun. We just wanted to give the audience more for their money and both of these pieces really complement each other.”
“The Santaland Diaries” has been the company’s most successful show to date. Show dates are Nov. 26-28, Dec. 3-5 and Dec. 10-12. Tickets are $22. Student rush tickets for $5 may be purchased five minutes before curtain, if seats are available. “Pay what you can performances” are Nov. 27, and Dec. 5. Friday/Saturday shows begin at 8 p.m., while Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. The Valentine Theatre’s Studio A is located at 401 Adams St. and features a cash bar.
Tickets can be purchased by calling (419) 242-2787 or through the Valentine’s online Box Office, additional Internet charges apply.

The holidays are a time for happiness and stress, as you decide what to get the Hip-Hop lover in your life. While you worry about the traffic in and out of your favorite stores, I have listed a few picks to help you once you make it to your destination safely. There are gifts and stocking stuffers that will already be on your list like gift cards, MP3 players, smart phones and video games. I’ll start you off with something familiar.
O Def Jam Rapstar. I feel a party coming on! If you dream of being an emcee this is the game for you! Rapstar gets top billing on my list because it is the first time rap and karaoke coexist together. This game is available on the Wii ($59.99), Xbox 360 and PS3 ($69.99). Rapstar concentrates on taking the player through the process of becoming a Rapstar. Starting in practice mode gives every artist what they want to hear, feedback. Career, Duet, Rapping and Freestyle modes lead up to completing the dream with the player recording a music video with visual effects that can be posted online. The game comes with 43 songs from Old School to present day with additional tracks available weekly through Def Jam Rapstar’s online store, www.
defjamrapstar.com.
O UO DJ Mixer. A gift to satisfy your inner DJ, UO DJ Mixer uses music libraries from two iPods, iPhones, MP3 players or mix and match. It complements a house party and can double as a beginner’s portable studio that is tiny in size with a spin option, microphone input, cross fade slider and recording option.
Urbanoutfitters.com.
O Shure SM58 Microphone. Aspiring artists need to record and for the low cost of $99 you can get classic quality. Shure is an industry standard that never disappoints and a great starter for the home studio.
www.shure.com.
O Beats By Dr. Dre. The DJ in me believes you should be able to splurge for the best in sound when experiencing music. If you are already purchasing a laptop, perhaps the HP Envy featuring Beats by Dr. Dre (starting at $949) could make this a Christmas to remember! Beats promises to deliver outstanding digital music playback and “the original sonic integrity of digital tracks,” allowing you to hear in quality what the artist and producer hear when they make the track.
Excellent for the artist recording at home or in various locations and studios, Beats is Universal for all music enthusiasts. MP3 headphones start at $120, Studio/Pro headphones $199-$449 and home stereo speakers $449. www.beatsbydre.com.
O “Decoded” by Jay-Z.  List price is $35 but look online for a better deal. This is not an autobiography, but a book of poetic lyrics that tell stories about his life. A great coffee-table book that will prove to be an inspiring read for any Hip-Hop head. www.amazon.com.

O DJ Hero 2. I received the first DJ Hero last year and it was good enough to make me want to step up my DJ game in the real world! If you already own the original DJ Hero you can purchase the game alone ($59.99) or you can purchase the bundle which includes the game and turntable controller ($99). Hero 2 is all about new music mash-ups like Nas’ “Hero” and Talib Kweli’s “Get By,” Eminem’s “Not Afraid” and Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop.”
www.djhero.com.
Happy holidays!
As we continue on …

The e-Press version of the Toledo Free Press is now online, it’s a special edition that was delivered early this week. Some of the articles focus on Black Friday, our cover story is “Toledo ‘Bucket List’ is ultimate Glass City experience.”