As Halloween draws near, it’s helpful to remember vampires weren’t always associated with angsty pre-teen novels. Classic and modern literature is full of compelling bloodsuckers whose “camps” anyone can be proud to be part of.

• Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” is famous not only for being one of the earliest novel-length vampire tales — published in 1872, 25 years before Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” – but for having female protagonists (vampire and victim) in a quasi-lesbian relationship. It has been a strong influence on both vampire and lesbian fiction since its publication.
• The classic vampire novel, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” (1897) may be long by the standards of today’s novels, but its epistolary (in letters) format makes it easy to read. Film adaptations simply cannot capture all the social themes Stoker weaves into his writing, so if you only know Count Dracula from the silver screen, you need to give the novel a thorough reading.
• “I am Legend” (1954) by Richard Matheson takes vampirism and makes it a pandemic disease, creating an apocalyptic world that should appeal to today’s zombie-crazed culture. Matheson’s tale moves quickly and builds suspense like few authors of his era did. The novel was the basis or inspiration for several films, most notably “Night of the Living Dead.”
• Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot,” (1975) the author’s personal favorite of all the novels he’s written, is one of the better books centered around a town where all the residents are turning into vampires.  King has woven the story into his “Dark Tower” novels, and also wrote short stories based on “Salem’s Lot” early in his career, leaving a wealth of material for readers who enjoy the original.
• No list of novels about vampires is complete without Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles,” particularly “Interview with the Vampire.” (1976). If you only associate Lestat with Tom Cruise, you need to read Rice’s crisp and chilling prose, little of which was captured in Cruise’s bland portrayal in the film adaptation. Later novels in the series fail to quicken the heart like the first, but are still must-reads for vampire aficionados.
• Poppy Z. Brite’s first novel, “Lost Souls,” (1992) contains one of the most compelling modern vampire characters in fiction, the young Nothing. Also featuring Brite’s beloved Steve and Ghost tandem, “Lost Souls” turned the vampire genre on its head when it was first published and still stands up today as enthralling, engrossing fiction.
• Kim Newman’s “Anno Dracula” (19920 revisits Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” universe, creating an alternate timeline where Count Dracula is not destroyed by Jonathan Harker, but rather marries Queen Victoria and spreads vampirism throughout Great Britain. It has spawned a series of novels and short stories, all of which are compelling, although readers should familiarize themselves with Stoker’s original novel first.
• One of the more successful comedic skewerings of the genre, Terry Pratchett’s “Carpe Jugulum” (1998) is readable without extensive knowledge of Pratchett’s Discworld series in which it’s set, but is more accessible to Pratchett fans than newcomers.
• “Let the Right One In” (2004) by John Ajvide Lindqvist focuses on the relationship between a human boy and a young vampire to explore modern issues like bullying in a dark and gripping way. The themes may be too dark for some, but those who can stomach Lindqvist’s strong writing will be rewarded.
• “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” (2010) by Seth Grahame-Smith contains the same mash-up of literature and comedy first made famous by Grahame-Smith’s bestselling “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” Not bogged down by the latter’s necessity to follow 19th century literary conventions, this books moves at a much faster pace, ideal for modern readers.

“My birthday is Oct. 28; why not have my party at a club and make money?”
Smart man, that James Downey.
Since 2007, Downey Productions has brought top-quality entertainment to Toledo. Imagine that: a Hip-Hop event at a club with real security, no fighting and seasoned performers. Ever since Eminem’s protégé and D12 member Bizarre asked Downey to throw a party for him, he has been profiting off of his skill for packing venues.
Downey knows the cardinal rule of event-throwing: establish relationships. In the entertainment business, but Hip-Hop especially, relationships are everything, and a person’s reputation always precedes him or her. Downey’s relationship with Mickey Finn’s Pub has earned him the freedom to throw events on a regular basis, and venture to other clubs.
“I was able to do for a local show what other promoters couldn’t, and that’s have people in the venue who aren’t performing; fans. I created balance between artists and spectators,” he said.

The local Hip-Hop scene in Toledo doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. With all the violence occurring in and around Toledo, a lot of it gets blamed (sometimes unfairly) on the Hip-Hop scene, much in the way national media blames Hip-Hop for violence. The stigma may be unfair, but the continuous fights, shootings and arrests do nothing but perpetuate that stereotype. This is why it’s so important to carefully plan out a Hip-Hop event. But not everyone heeds that warning.
Downey doesn’t discriminate against anyone but nonsense will not be tolerated at any of his events. He makes it a point to steer clear of artists who have a reputation for violence and/or trouble. Believe it or not, there is a plethora of artists in Toledo who simply want to make music and spread their movement without doing something ignorant to earn “street cred” that doesn’t matter anyway. Going to an event that is thrown by Downey Productions is having peace of mind, knowing you will leave in the same condition in which you arrived.
Besides an unsafe environment, the other biggest complaint about local artist showcases is that fans aren’t allowed to just dance and have a good time. Some of these showcases are performance after performance, with no DJ or music in between sets. In case you’re wondering, it’s boring! No one wants to see 13 artists and their eight-person entourage on stage, doing a 10-minute set of music they have never heard. That is not how you get fans.
Downey took care of that problem as well. He may have five performers tops, and he also has a DJ playing real music. He realizes that the most important aspect of any event is the happiness of the people who paid their money to come. Also, because of his spotless reputation, Downey is able to throw events at nicer venues, so the club-goers’ expectations are not unrealistic.
So you know his birthday party is going to be spectacular, right? The Halloween Revenge Party is Oct. 29 at Mainstreet Bar & Grill. There will be music, performances, cash prizes and me. And I don’t host just any event.
Bring your costume; the best one gets money!
Even if you don’t dress up, come enjoy performances by Toledo heavyweights like Chiefalone, Flintstone, 2wo Tone and others.
Now that you know what to expect from a real promoter, don’t expect to be disappointed.
The tickets are $6 and $10 at the door, which opens at 9 p.m. For more information on the show, contact Downey at (419) 360-0407.

An Ohio-based designated driver service has partnered with a national producer and marketer of wine and spirits to encourage those planning to drink on Halloween to do so safely.
More than 15 Brown-Forman brands will offer exclusive 20 percent off BeMyDD discount codes to Facebook fans to help raise awareness and encourage trial use of the designated driver service.
The discount codes will be offered via Facebook during the week of Oct. 24 and will be valid for 30 days.
According to the service, the brands offering codes include Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, Southern Comfort, Canadian Mist, Chambord, Collingwood, Early Times, el Jimador, Finlandia, Gentleman Jack, Herradura, Korbel, Old Forester, Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Tuaca and Woodford Reserve.
Featuring the tagline “We drive your car, so you don’t have to,” BeMyDD was founded in Cleveland in March 2010 by Arthur Simanovsky and Alexa Milkovich, both in their mid-20s, and now operates in 42 cities in 16 states.
BeMyDD offers a personal driver service and a pickup service, according to a news release.
For personal driver service, customers reserve a driver who will come to a pickup location and drive the customer and his or her guests to a location in the customer’s vehicle. The driver will wait for the patrons and then take them back when they are ready. Personal driver service costs $12.50 per hour in the Toledo area, according to BeMyDD’s website.
For pickup service, a team of two drivers is dispatched to a location where they drive the customer and the customer’s vehicle home. In the Toledo area, pickup service costs $25 plus mileage, which is $2.95 per mile for the first 10 miles and $1.50 per mile for each additional mile, according to BeMyDD’s website.
For more information, call (877) 823-6933 (877-U-BEMYDD).

Director John Landis explores the evolution of monsters from Edward Scissorhands to Edward Cullen in his book “Monsters in the Movies: 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares.”
Landis is best known in the United States for comedies such as “Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers” and “Spies Like Us,” but in England his 1981 horror-comedy “An American Werewolf in London” is a cult classic.
“While shooting ‘Burke & Hare’ in London and Edinburgh, I was approached by several publishers to write a book on horror films,” Landis said. “I was separately approached by Lauretta Dives of the Kobal Collection, the largest collection of film stills in the world, and thought of this book. Monsters appear not only in the horror genre, but in science fiction, fantasy and suspense, and it is a much broader subject than just horror.”

john Landis

The 320-page book is separated into categories based on type of monster. It features photographs from the Kobal Collection as well as interviews with those involved with monster movies, such as Sam Raimi, Guillermo Del Toro and Rick Baker. Baker won an Oscar in makeup design for his work on “An American Werewolf in London.” The transformation of the main character from man to werewolf was done without the use of CGI. Their work landed Landis and Baker the job of creating Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video, and Landis later embraced CGI when he directed the video for Jackson’s “Black or White.”
“Computer-generated imagery is just another tool in the filmmaker’s box,” Landis said. “From the earliest cave paintings to the most sophisticated CGI, humans still feel the need to paint monsters.”
He enjoys using CGI, but Landis was happy to have made “An American Werewolf in London” before the technology was readily available.
“It’s a different time, and so many films later it would be received differently by a contemporary audience,” Landis said.
It’s only natural for Landis to chronicle the evolution of monsters since his favorites range from giant gorillas to reanimated corpses.
“I have many favorites when it comes to monsters and all for different reasons,” Landis said. “As [‘Gremlins’ director] Joe Dante points out in the book, monsters are metaphors. Joe suggests a game; name the monster, name the metaphor! A few of my favorite monster movies are ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Island of Lost Souls,’ ‘King Kong,’ ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ ‘The Re-Animator,’ ‘Jason and the Argonauts,’ ‘The Monster and The Girl’ and ‘Mighty Joe Young’ and so many more.”

The season for haunted houses wraps up this week, but for the members of Lake Erie Paranormal, it’s a year-round activity.
Paranormal investigation teams are common — several have their own TV shows. What makes Lake Erie Paranormal unique is that  the members go into each investigation as skeptics.
“We don’t go into an investigation because somebody calls us saying their doors close or they hear creaks and assume it’s ghosts,” lead investigator Jason Schneider said. “We try to prove why the door is closing on its own or what the creaks are. We don’t go into any investigation thinking there’s activity. We do our investigation then conclude with what we have. Ninety percent of the time there is a logical explanation for what is happening.”

Lake Erie Paranormal

“Jason is the worst skeptic in the world,” investigator Vicki Schramm said. “When we get something and he believes that we got something, then you know we got something.”
Another unique fact is all the members, except for medium Dani Wurzell, are in law enforcement. Schneider, founder Steve Rogers, team leader Shawn McMahon, tech manager Dan Hannon and Dave Howell are all sheriff’s deputies. Schramm and Todd Althouse are former police officers.
“Being a police officer, I was skeptical on a lot of things,” Schramm said. “That’s just the way we’re taught. You have to work it out and figure what is truth and what isn’t before you make a conclusion.”
Schramm and Schneider both said they joined the team to overcome fears.
“I never believed in paranormal stuff,” Schramm said. “My father committed suicide in our house, and I went into the Air Force after he passed away. My mom kept writing me letters and telling me that my dad was there and things were happening. When I got out of the service, I bought the house. There was a lot of activity. We’d come and lights would be on. If we’d lose something, it would appear on a bed. I think it was for him to remind us he was there. That’s when I started believing and reading about it.”
Lake Erie Paranormal is a nonprofit group, and Schneider said a true paranormal team never charges for an investigation.
“We started this group to help people,” he said. “We’re all in law enforcement, so we want to give back and help people with these problems. People don’t feel comfortable and think people will think they are crazy. There are a lot of people that have experiences and keep them bottled up. I stay in contact with the people we help to make sure there is no activity. We build a bond with our clients.”
The team has been around for two years and does two or three investigations per month using equipment such as night vision cameras, temperature gauges, voice recorders and electromagnetic field detectors. The voice recorders yield the most evidence, picking up voices that Schneider said operate on a different frequency than we are able to hear.
“We’ve been doing this for two years, and when I get one it’s like the first time,” he said. “It’s still neat to catch it.”
The voices captured are often just responding yes or no to a question, but sometimes they capture full phrases. A few notable captures are “Help me,” “You afraid?” “Hi, Mom” and “Hey motherf—er, come and get me.”
The team has been much more selective with its visual evidence, posting one video in two years.
“It has to be something that we can’t explain,” Schneider said. “We’ve gone over every possible explanation for it. We know where everyone is at in the building. You see a shadow or something go across, and we know it’s nobody else.”
The posted video is from an investigation of a house where a 9-year-old boy said he had been followed by a ghost called Doc since he was two.
“We were setting up in the kitchen, and Vicki saw something go down the hallway,” Schneider said. “I marked the time. We didn’t see anything in the hallway on video, but in the room there’s a little ball of light by the side of his bed. As it goes toward the headboard, it gets bigger then shoots straight back. There was nothing in that room that would cause the light to do that. Nobody has been able to figure it out.”
The group has several other notable incidents, including an investigation of the Old South Hospital in Pittsburg, Tenn., where a sock monkey was moved around at the nurse’s station in the pediatric ward. Another was at Prospect Place Mansion in Trinway, Ohio, where members got sick.
“We were up on the third floor asking a lot of questions and asking for activity,” Schneider said. “It got real hot and real hard to breathe. It was an unpleasant experience, but an experience nonetheless. We all left, and as soon as we got outside it all went away.”
Visit LakeErieParanormal.net to see the evidence. Contact LakeErieParanormal@gmail.com to inquire about potential investigations.

Desmond Marrow

The Mid-American Conference announced its Players of the Week on Oct. 24, and UT senior cornerback Desmond Marrow was announced the Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight time.

Marrow led Toledo for the second straight week with a team-high 6 tackles. He tied a career high with two interceptions off Miami (OH) quarterback Zac Dysert as the Rockets won 49-28 to improve to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in the MAC.

Marrow has 8 pass breakups and is UT’s leading tackler for the season with 48 tackles for an average of 6 per game.

When the Rockets lost senior running back Adonis Thomas on his first carry at Syracuse due to a broken forearm, his backups quickly showed why there was no need to worry. Though Toledo lost 33-30 in overtime due to a missed call, senior running back Morgan Williams and sophomore running back David Fluellen combined for 101 yards rushing on 20 carries for two touchdowns, as well as 57 yards receiving on seven catches with another touchdown.

In a 49-28 victory over Miami (OH) on Saturday, UT’s running backs put on a clinic against the RedHawks’ defense, racking up 230 yards on 37 carries for four touchdowns. Thomas made his return to the field for the first time since his injury at the Carrier Dome, reeling off a 67-yard run—Toledo’s longest rush of the season—on his first carry of the game. In the first quarter alone, Thomas, Fluellen and Williams combined for 150 yards on 12 carries as each picked up a touchdown.

“It feels real good,” Beckman said. “It feels real good to see No. 24 out there carrying the football, but we also know that we’ve got two others that have done an outstanding job and stepped their game up to make sure that we could perform at the level we’ve been capable of performing. It speaks loads for this football team [of] what this football team’s all about.

“It’s not just about an individual. It’s about a team, and those two—Morgan Williams and David Fluellen—have done a great job in the absence of Adonis.”

Heading into Saturday’s game, Fluellen and Williams had combined for 718 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. They also hauled in 22 receptions for 235 yards and four touchdowns, ranking as the Rockets’ fourth and fifth leading receivers. Despite not playing for three-straight games, Thomas entered the Miami (OH) contest as the team’s third-leading receiver with 168 yards on 13 catches.

“I got some trash talked to me by my teammates because I’ve been out of football for three, going on four weeks and my endurance is not what it used to be,” Thomas said. “I haven’t been really running full speed with people chasing me, so it was just kind of good to be back.”

Thomas was no worse for wear, rushing 10 times for 80 yards and one touchdown, also grabbing a 19-yard reception. Fluellen picked up 66 yards on 10 carries with one touchdown and had two receptions for 19 yards, while Williams led the team in rushing with 84 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. He, too, got involved in the receiving game, hauling in two catches for 16 yards.

In the three games Thomas was out, Williams rushed for 328 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. After Toledo’s victory over the RedHawks, Williams is averaging a productive 5.37 yards per carry in 2011.

“It’s a good feeling, but it’s another good feeling when we’re winning, too,” Williams said at the team’s media day on Monday. “So I’m just happy to step in and be accountable to my teammates. I like the pressure of stepping in and having to make to plays. I mean, what’s a life without pressure?”

Williams was also able to relate to Thomas’ situation off the field. He broke the same arm twice during his high school career at Canton-McKinley. The first time was in his freshman year, which required surgery to insert a plate and a screw. The next was a hairline fracture during Williams’ senior season, which did not require surgery but did require him to wear a plate over his arm.

“We hang out every day,” Williams said of Thomas. “That’s my brother right there. I broke the same arm. I just told him what’s going to happen, [that he’d] have to wear the plate and whatever. I just told him basically what I went through, so I’ve just been by his side every step of the way.”

Though Thomas missed being on the field, he was fully supportive of his teammates and thankful for Williams’ help while he was out.

“Me and Morgan, we’re like brothers,” Thomas said. “We hang out all the time. My first day out of surgery, Morgan basically spent the night over at my house, just checking on me, making sure everything’s OK. When I’m watching film, or when I’m on the field, when I was able to be out at practice, I’m just helping him.”

In high school, Fluellen said he was the focal point of his team’s offense, carrying the ball 30 to 40 times per game with the outcome usually dependent on his performance. However, he has enjoyed being part of an offense with Williams and Thomas where he doesn’t have to shoulder the load.

“It’s great being with these guys,” Fluellen said. “I learned a lot, just maturing from last year to this year. They helped me out a lot, watching films preparing for the games. So when I went out there, I already knew what to expect. It’s always room for improvement. Each week we’re going to get better as a group in the backfield, and whoever’s in, we’re just going to make good plays.”

When asked who he thought would be in the starting lineup next week in the backfield, Thomas said, “We’re all the starting running back.”

“We’ve just got to be ready for whatever happens,” Williams said. “Everybody’s got to be ready to step up and be accountable and step up and make plays and hold their spot down. Everybody’s just trying to win, doing anything they can to help this team win.”

The Rockets dominated the rushing game in a 49-28 win at home against defending Mid-American Conference champion Miami (OH).

Toledo (5-3, 4-0 MAC) outgained the RedHawks (2-5, 1-2) 269-14 in rushing yards, led by senior running back Morgan Williams with 17 carries for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Adonis Thomas returned from injury with 80 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore David Fluellen had 66 yards and a score.

“We are all the starting running back,” Thomas said. “It’s special. There’re not that many programs in the country who have running backs who could probably start anywhere.”

“It feels really good to see Adonis carrying the football, but we also know that we have two others that have done an outstanding job and stepped their game up to make sure we can perform at a high level,” Toledo head coach Tim Beckman said. “It’s not about individuals, it’s about team. It speaks volumes of what this team is all about.”

Also returning from injury for the Rockets were junior linebacker Dan Molls and senior safety Jermaine Robinson.

“It feels great to get out there with the defense again,” Molls said. “It was good to fly around and have fun. I had a blast out there tonight and getting the win made it that much better.”

“It feels great to be back out there with Danny and Adonis,” Robinson said. “It felt good to contribute to a win, especially on Homecoming.”

Sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens added 20 rushing yards. He was 11 of 15 for 143 yards and a touchdown. Junior Austin Dantin started the game and was 7 of 13 for 85 yards and a score.

Zac Dysert went 24 of 37 for 333 yards and two touchdowns. Toledo’s defense sacked him five times, and senior cornerback Desmond Marrow tied a career high with two interceptions. Marrow also led UT for the second straight week with a team-high 6 tackles.

Fluellen ran three straight times for 48 yards on UT’s first drive for a 7-0 lead 2:27 into the game.

Senior cornerback Desmond Marrow intercepted Dysert on the ensuing drive and returned the ball three yards to the Miami (OH) 39-yard line. Williams scored a 2-yard touchdown on a direct snap on the following drive. Thomas ran for 67 yards on his first carry and scored from three yards out for a 21-0 lead after the 1^st quarter.

“It just kind of happened,” Thomas said. “I give credit to the offensive line for opening up holes and I was able to get to the next level and make something happen. I got some trash talk from my teammates because I have been out of football 3-4 weeks and my endurance is not what it used to be. It was just good to be back.”

“I’m proud of the way the guys came out and started the game,” Beckman said. “To be a champion you have to beat one and I am very proud of the way these seniors led this football team.”

Junior linebacker Robert Bell recovered a fumble by Dysert and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown 3:02 into the second quarter for a 28-0 lead.

Miami (OH) answered back on the next drive with an 8-yard pass from Dysert to Justin Semmes. Toledo and the RedHawks exchanged 1-yard touchdown runs late in the half for a 35-14 score at halftime.

The Rockets scored the first points of the second half with 11:44 remaining on a 9-yard pass from Dantin to senior Jerome Jones.

Miami (OH) answered back with a 3-yard pass from Dysert to Andy Cruse.

Freshman receiver Justin Olack caught his first career touchdown from Owens on a 10-yard pass.

Miami (OH) backup Austin Boucher completed a 25-yard pass to Willie Culpepper with 30 seconds left for the final score.

The Rockets return to action Nov. 1 at home against Northern Illinois (5-3, 3-1) at 7 p.m.

The Rockets dominated the rushing game for a 35-14 lead at halftime in the homecoming game against Miami.

Toledo outgained the RedHawks 225-27 in rushing yards in the first half. Senior running back Morgan Williams led the way with 11 carries for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Adonis Thomas had 71 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore David Fluellen had 46 yards and a score.

Sophomore quarterback Terrance Owens added 20 rushing yards. He was 3 of 4 for 25 yards. Dantin started the game and was 2 of 4 for 13 yards. Zac Dysert went 13 of 21 for Miami in the 1^st half for 202 yards and a touchdown. Toledo’s defense sacked him three times.

Fluellen ran three straight times for 48 yards on UT’s first drive for a 7-0 lead 2:27 into the game.

Senior cornerback Desmond Marrow intercepted Dysert on the ensuing drive and returned the ball three yards to the Miami 39-yard line. Williams scored a 2-yard touchdown on a direct snap, and Thomas scored from three yards out on the following drive for a 21-0 lead after the 1^st quarter.

Junior linebacker Robert Bell recovered a fumble by Dysert and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown 3:02 into the second quarter for a 28-0 lead.

Miami answered back on the next drive with an 8-yard pass from Dysert to Justin Semmes. Toledo and the RedHawks exchanged 1-yard touchdown runs late in the half for a 35-14 score at halftime.

Even though he has little desire to play on a team, my son, Jack, has quite the general interest in football. I remembered the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition I took part in as a child and decided to see if it was still out there. Not only did I find it online, but I was even able to sign him up for a local contest. Attempting to be PC and not exclude anyone, I decided to ask my no-interest-in-sports, I-would-trade-my-lunch-for-a-hit-of-lipstick daughter, Elaine, if she would also be interested.
As she does with just about everything, Elaine hemmed and hawed right up until the morning of the competition and landed on “thanks, but no thanks” once she discovered that the event had nothing to do with karate. Apparently, the “kick” part of the competition stood out in her mind, but she had it confused with the “hi-ya!” variety. As she watched the other children practice, however, she somewhat inexplicably decided to give it a try at the last minute.

After years of her running away screaming at gymnastics, lying facedown in the middle of the court during basketball and rolling up her mat and standing by the door 10 minutes into parent/child yoga class, it was my greatest hope that Elaine would just attempt to punt, pass and kick a football in front of an unfamiliar crowd without an earth-shattering meltdown. As much as it makes sense in my head to just cease all activities for her involving strange faces and places, I know in the long run that continuing to throw her into her own personal lion’s den on occasion is the only way she’ll learn how to eventually fight her way out.
As Jack and Elaine took their turns that sunny afternoon, they were each striving for two very different things. I proudly watched as Jack put forth his standard best effort and Elaine followed suit without hesitation or even the slightest hint of entering “freak out” mode. Jack took second place and Elaine won by just sticking with it, which was also a huge win for my husband and me as parents.
Unfortunately, parents don’t always think far enough ahead. In my excitement that Elaine had faced her fears, I failed to realize right away that she was the only girl in her girls-only age group. She not only won by sticking with it, she had literally won (even if it was by default).
Of course, the next leg of the contest couldn’t be located around the corner or on a day we didn’t have anything else planned. It was 30 miles away and landed on the same day as Jack’s soccer game, the fall festival and parade we usually attend and an out-of-town wedding shower. It would put a crimp in just about all of our plans that weekend.
In our tradition of making life harder than it has to be, we left it up to Elaine and she was game. In fact, she was excited about the whole thing.
In spite of the situation’s possibly fragile outcome, we traded the festival, parade, a post-parade party and even the much-anticipated wedding shower for three minutes of our no-interest-in-sports, I-would-trade-my-lunch-for-a-hit-of-lipstick daughter punting, passing and kicking a football in cold and rainy Wauseon, Ohio. It was a great day. Elaine willingly left our sides among strangers, “performed” in front of a crowd and stood patiently in the cold rain for an hour or so as the other competitors took their turns. She even had one heck of a kick off of the tee as the youngest contestant there. Between Elaine sustaining her commitment and Jack taking a backseat to his sister’s success without so much as a grunt, it was perhaps the most fantastic Punt, Pass and Kick fourth place out of four finish ever.

Columnist Shannon Szyperski and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania. Email her at letters@toledofreepress.com.