Fred Altvater

The 2011 golf season is winding down. Luke Donald has all the cash, Tiger Woods got back to the winners circle, Yani dominated the LPGA and Greg Norman lost another Presidents Cup.

There were a few items of golf business left to attend to before Santa comes to town.

Lee Westwood joined a stellar field on the Asian Tour for the inaugural Thailand Golf Championship played on the 7,453 yard Amata Spring Country Club.

Westwood fired a career low 12-under par 60 in the opening round on Thursday and never looked back. He followed up his outstanding first round with a 22-under par 266 (64-73-69) which bested runner-up Charl Schwartzel by 7 shots.

It was Westwood’s 37^th career win and moved him into the No. 2 spot on the Official World Golf Ranking behind No. 1 Luke Donald and ahead of No. 3 Rory McIlroy.

The Ladies European Tour (LET) held a small shindig in Dubai this week and young upstart Lexi Thompson proved again why the LPGA made a wise decision to allow the 16-year-old to join the LPGA Tour in 2012.

In September, Lexi became the youngest winner ever on the LPGA Tour when she won the Navistar Classic. She just doubled down and became the youngest winner ever on the LET by winning the Dubai Ladies Masters.

The Dubai Ladies Masters had a very respectable field including several Solheim Cup members from both Europe and the USA. Lexi turned in scores of 70-66-70-67 for 15-under par and won by four strokes.

Thompson does not turn 17 until February of 2012. The LPGA made an exception to allow her membership for next year.

There won’t be any Friday night football games or high school proms for Lexi. She is putting the future of the LPGA squarely on her young shoulders and could be the key to bringing the LPGA back to prominence.

The always “Dressed for Success” Ian Poulter captured a Gold Jacket to add to his wardrobe for winning the Australian Masters.

Melbourne Home Boy Geoff Ogilvy took a two-shot lead into the final round after posting an 8-under par 63 on Saturday. He could only manage a 73 in the final round and finished at 11-under par good enough for third place.

Poulter drained a 15-foot eagle putt on the very first hole to erase Ogilvy’s lead and turned in a 4-under par 67 in very windy conditions on Sunday to pick up the win.

Ian had fallen to No. 28 in the OWGR and this win in Australian Masters should get him back into the top 15 heading into 2012 a Ryder Cup year.

This puts a wrap on a very exciting 2011. Youth was the catch phrase in golf and the trend will undoubtedly continue next year.

Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley and Gary Woodland are just a few of the youngsters on the PGA Tour that should continue to be major factors next year.

Yani Tseng is only 22 years old, but her domination of the LPGA is about to be challenged by 17-year-old Lexi Thompson. Throw in Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and a host of young talented Asian players and the LPGA should regain some of its audience and badly needed sponsor dollars should follow.

Jack Nicklaus said in a speech last week that golf needs to make some changes. He may be right, but a resurgent Tiger, a teenager, Lexi Thompson, and a slightly improving economy might just be what the Doctor prescribed for a healthier golf community next year.

I’ll see you all on the “Back 9.”

In these tough economic times, holidays like Christmas can be especially difficult for financially struggling families. This holiday, at least one family will have an easier time not only in the short term, but for the foreseeable future.
Toledo resident Heidi Krueger Middlebrooks was chosen from nearly 100 nominated families to spend Dec. 20 shopping with Toledo’s “Extreme Couponer” Joni Meyer-Crothers, who with her family has been featured on TLC’s “Extreme Couponing.” Middlebrooks went home with about $1,750 worth of groceries from the shopping trip and a donation from Meyer-Crothers’ stockpile.
“It was really cool and a lot of fun,” Middlebrooks said. “I was glad to learn from her. I learned a lot of information. It’s nice because now we have a head start.”
Meyer-Crothers partnered with Toledo Free Press to provide a better Christmas to a citizen in need, and to teach them how to shop the way she does, saving the family money in the long run.
Meyer-Crothers said she hasn’t spent $200 on groceries during a month’s time in the past three years, despite the fact she buys about $5,000-$6,000 worth of groceries each month. She donates an estimated 80 percent to organizations such as Sylvania Area Family Services.

Heidi Krueger Middlebrooks, left, with some of the personal stockpile items donated by ‘Extreme Couponing’ shopper Joni Meyer-Crothers.

“Just looking at what she does and what she gives [to food shelters], she is just an awesome person,” Middlebrooks said. “I was in tears for days thinking, ‘How can I accept this help?’ I am working and I am grateful to have a job, but with seven kids it doesn’t really take care of what we need to take care of. I will pay this forward 100 times over. It’s so appreciated and I will continue to be able to coupon and provide for the family with this [knowledge].”
As part of the Toledo Free Press promotion, Columbia Gas of Ohio and FirstEnergy will cover the cost of the family’s January utility bills. Columbia Gas also donated a programmable thermostat, combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector and energy-efficient showerheads, which, once installed, will save Middlebrooks an estimated $180 on her bill each year. FirstEnergy also supplied Middlebrooks with energy-efficient light bulbs and tips on how save money.
It’s neat to have that opportunity to help somebody out,” said Columbia Gas of Ohio Communications and Community Relations Manager Chris Kozak. “To help somebody start off the new year is just exciting. It’s important to be involved and we are very appreciative that Toledo Free Press asked us.”
“We thought it was a great program,” said FirstEnergy External Affairs Manager Meg Adams. “It’s the community coming together. It’s very exciting.”
FOX Toledo provided television coverage for the promotion.
Christmas is a time for kids to be able to open presents from beneath the tree and Middlebrooks has received some help making that happen. A private philanthropy group donated $250 in gift cards to Target $200 to Toys ‘R’ Us. Kroger donated a turkey for a Christmas day meal.
“That was more than we expected,” Middlebrooks said. “I was really excited to learn about the couponing process, but when you add in all the extras — we were more than grateful.”
Challenges at home
Middlebrooks is no stranger to couponing. Albeit nowhere near the level of Meyer-Crothers, she tries to save money whenever she can. At one point, she was told she didn’t qualify for food stamps because she made $14 over the cutoff. Instances like these inspired her to experiment with coupons to look for savings.

From left, Meyer-Crothers, FirstEnergy’s Meg Adams, Krueger Middlebrooks, Chris Kozak of Columbia Gas of Ohio.

“I knew a little bit about couponing,” Middlebrooks said. “My friends always called me the ‘Coupon Queen’ too. I probably saved 20 or 30 percent — now I will save a lot more. Joni taught me how she was doing it so that I will be able to do it and continue doing it.”
Middlebrooks was a mother of two when she met boyfriend Brad Perry. The two, who have dated for six years, moved in together, bringing Perry’s four children into the home. They later had a son together, giving the home a total of nine occupants.
Living with so many people has been further complicated with the struggles Perry, a self-employed brick mason, has faced seeking work. He stays home to take care of the kids, some of whom have health challenges. That leaves the family dependent on Middlebrooks’ salary as a parent educational case worker at Lucas County Children Services.
“Unfortunately, the way the economy is there’s not as many people doing building or repairing to their homes,” Middlebrooks said. “This year he has not worked hardly at all, so it’s my income that’s trying to support seven kids and two adults. Bills have got us behind a little bit so it’s nice to know that we have some help with those.”
“I’m just grateful,” Perry said. “Everything else will fall into place. Money will get better, we will be able to help pay bills back.”
Those struggles would have impacted Christmas this year for Middlebrooks and her family. Before being chosen for the promotion, she said she had told her children, who range in age from 4 to 19, that there would not be presents this year.
“We told the kids, especially the older ones, that this year was not a good year for us,” Middlebrooks said. “We said, ‘You are going to be without [presents] … We really just can’t do as much as we want to for you.’”
The shopping experience
For as positive of an experience as the trip was, it was not without its drama. A shipment of coupons scheduled to be delivered to Meyer-Crother’s  home were lost in the mail.
“I was very sad my coupons didn’t come in,” Meyer-Crothers said. “I overnighted them but all the post office could say was, ‘I’m sorry.’ We were going to do about $600 and it was only going to be about 50 cents.”
As a result, Meyer-Crothers wasn’t able to quite replicate the success she usually has, but the “Extreme Couponer” still provided outstanding results at Kroger on King Road.
Middlebrooks left with $256.08 worth of products for a total of $41.58, which was paid for by Toledo Free Press. She also received an estimated $1,500 worth of products from Meyer-Crothers’ personal stockpile at home.
Middlebrooks will receive a special order of 100 boxes of rice delivered to the store to use with 100 coupons Meyer-Crothers provided. With the coupons, the rice will cost just $9, or nine cents per box.
Despite saving nearly 84 percent on the grocery bill, Meyer-Crothers wasn’t satisfied. She informed Middlebrooks that she would take her shopping again in the future, this time with her full arsenal of coupons.
“I’m going to take her again once the coupons come,” Meyer-Crothers said. “We will wait for a better sale than the one this week, but we got them a good Christmas basket and gave almost $1,500 from our stockpile.”
More than a one-time gift
Meyer-Crothers made sure that this wouldn’t be just a single boost for Middlebrooks and her family. Meyer-Crothers, who teaches an extreme couponing class at her church, talked her through the experience, giving her tips to save on groceries.
“She was able to see what’s going on,” said Meyer-Crothers’ husband, Jamie. “That’s what was good about this. She learned how to do it.”
Some strategies include saving the coupon until the item goes on sale and ordering coupons from services in Florida and Texas, which offer more of a discount.
Not only does Middlebrooks want to continue to coupon, she wants to pass along the knowledge to others. She plans on teaching extreme couponing to her classes at Lucas County Children Services.
“My main thing from the beginning was to be able to help other people too, not only for myself but to be able to teach other people to do it,” Middlebrooks said. “I can’t wait to teach that to some of our parents. We know their dollars aren’t that great and to be able to teach them how to stretch their dollars and make things last is going to be wonderful.”
“That’s passing the blessing on,” Jamie said. “We helped her and she is in turn going to help other people in her situation.
“That’s all we can ask for.”

I love the holidays. The music, lights, gatherings and spirituality punctuate the year with an exclamation mark of fellowship and sentiment.
Working on this season’s Make-A-Wish benefit CD meant being exposed to Christmas music since August. Rather than wear thin, the extended season made the relatively short four weeks of “normal” celebrating seem like part of a more casual and relaxed time frame.
Sharing the traditions and fun with our sons Evan, who is now 5 and a half years old, and Sean, who is 3 and a half, has rejuvenated the Christmas spirit in our home.
For the sixth year, during Thanksgiving break, we took the boys to see Santa Claus at the Aventura Mall, just north of Miami, with their uncles Mark and Jack. Miami might not conjure winter atmosphere, but Aventura decks the mall like it’s responding to a personal challenge, and the air conditioning adds just a touch of chill. Evan and Sean sat on Santa’s lap and marveled at the ginormous Christmas tree, which reached through all three stories of the mall. When Evan was 3, he had this exchange with Santa:
“What would you like for Christmas?” Santa asked.
Evan pointed to the tree, which was guarded by teddy bears and soldiers and other holiday sprites.
“A tree?” Santa asked, making eye contact with Evan’s mommy Shannon before he nodded. “Anything else?”
“With lights!” Evan said, as his eyes darted between the tree and Santa.
“With lights,” agreed Santa, and that was all Evan talked about for a week.
I expect that simplicity and purity will change as the boys grow, but so far, they seem to appreciate the atmosphere of the season as much as they do the presents. This year, Evan would like just about anything tied to “Angry Birds,” and Sean is hoping Santa will bring him fire trucks and a toy fire station.
The boys are learning the traditions — hearing the Make-A-Wish CD in the car for three months means they are able to sing all the words to songs about Santa, Rudolph and Frosty. It pleases me that the versions of these songs they love and know are recordings by local people. Evan and Sean have met Kerry Patrick Clark, Sheri LaFontaine, Jeff Stewart and other artists on the CD; that gives them an organic connection to the music.
While I love it, Christmas is a complicated holiday for me. My maternal uncle committed suicide on Dec. 25 (well before I was born), so the holiday season depressed my mother and exacerbated her sometimes punishing moods. Christmas was never a big gift-exchange day for us, but there was always a tree and always music. Such trappings, humbly wrapped around the spiritual story of the Nativity, temporarily eased horrific memories for my mom and a desperate situation for my brother and me; that was my childhood lesson in Christmas spirit and faith.
It’s that intangible gift of Christmas I want my sons to know, but I am aware of my psychological issues with it, so I’m striving to share without smothering.
This year, Toledo Free Press asked the community to nominate a family in need to win an “Extreme Couponing” grocery trip with Joni Meyer-Crothers. Also included were January utilities donated by Columbia Gas of Ohio and FirstEnergy and nearly $500 in gift cards for the holiday. I read nearly 100 emails and messages about families with hardships resulting from sickness, death, accidents and just bad luck in a hard economy. I wanted to put my arms around every one of them, to find ways to raise more money to help them, to find donations to ease some of their pain. It could drive one crazy trying to absorb all the suffering and difficulty just in Toledo and Lucas County.
Which, I realize, is the reason God sent his son to do the absorbing for mere men like me and you.
My favorite Christmas story with Evan is about a group viewing of “Frosty the Snowman,” one of the gentler Christmas specials. The bad guy is just a bumbling, incompetent magician, not a snow monster or green, grinchy monster.
Evan loved the song and followed the simple story well, bouncing and marching when Frosty and his friends did. When Frosty melts in the greenhouse, Evan was very quiet and watched intently. When (SPOILER ALERT!) Santa brings Frosty back to life with Christmas snow as a reward for a child’s faith, Evan returned to bouncing and being happy.
“Santa woke him up!” Evan said.
The next day, I sat with Evan at the manger and tried to introduce the baby Jesus. I explained as simply as I could how Christ was born, about Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men and the angels.
I did not want him to treat the Nativity figurines like his “Sesame Street” toys, but having the visual aids helped. Evan absorbed the story as respectfully as a child less than 3 years old can.
On a roll, I added that Jesus later died for us, but he came back to life as a promise of our faith.
“Santa woke him up!” Evan said.
I have a way to go with teaching Christmas traditions. But I pray my wife and I will have decades of seasons to share with my sons, to help them navigate the competing commercial and spiritual sides of the holiday I love.

Michael S. Miller is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press and Toledo Free Press Star. Contact him via email at mmiller@toledofreepress.com.

It amazes me how a moment in time can completely change the meaning of something. This year, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” went from being a song I found mildly annoying to one I tear up at by the middle of the first verse. I can no longer recall why I didn’t care for it before, but all I know is that I will now always feel a little something when it comes on the radio from season to season.
Dec. 2 was the big event that gave it meaning not only for me, but for my entire side of the family. My newest sister-in-law walked down a flight of stairs and into our family, joyfully proclaiming that my brother was all she wanted for Christmas this year. Even though Mariah Carey has been belting out the same sentiment since 1994, I never really heard it until now.
We live at a time when the word “war” is thrown around year after year in regards to both marriage and Christmas. With all of the throwing around from multiple directions, I am having a hard time grasping exactly who disputes what and why they are even disputing it in the first place. My low-level comprehension of the debate is likely comparable to the generalized misconception that the French and Indian War had something to do with the French battling Indians way back when.
I honestly don’t know if the “War on Christmas” has to do with Christians not wanting people to secularize the holiday, atheists wanting to remove any and all religious “lint” from the fabric of our society or retailers fighting for holiday sales with ridiculously low prices. The “War on Marriage” is equally confusing. Some want to do away with the “unnecessary piece of paper,” while others are protesting in the streets to demand that more couples have the opportunity to join the club. Some already practicing marriage take it extremely seriously and want to keep it in its most traditional form while others involved in its practice think of it more as “until I change my mind” than “until death do us part” (I’m looking at you, Kim Kardashian).
Regardless of the exact who, what, where and why of the rival factions and their particular demands, it is difficult to reconcile a declaration of war on either Christmas or marriage after the experience of a Christmas wedding. After all, the very essence of each is meant to be a coming together in order to celebrate the birth of something beautiful. Each is meant to be a time of tradition, contemplation, devotion and unbridled jubilation. After witnessing the two in combination, it is difficult to understand why anyone would want to object to either’s existence, exclude anyone from experiencing them or even argue about them at all.
Both holidays and weddings are more than just big meals and piles of gifts. They are a time to think about who we are, how we are and where we want to be. They are a time to bring together different people from different worlds. They are a time to reflect and to start anew.
It may be argued that we can engage in the substance of these events without the events themselves. However, tradition and ritual lend a powerful significance to our lives and to our betterment. They put us in a place where we are forced to step away from our everyday and look at a bigger picture. Sometimes that bigger picture allows us to see and hear things as we’ve never seen or heard them before. Sometimes it allows us to add meaning to a place it’s never been.
New meaning and appreciation may come in the form of something as simple as a Mariah Carey song or it may alter our outlook on life altogether. As imperfect as institutions like holidays and marriage
can be, they still offer a valuable opportunity for any and all who are open to the fresh perspective they continue to offer up year after year.

Shannon and her husband Michael are raising three children in Sylvania.

Peter Noone

It’s lovely listening to Peter Noone talk — that British accent, the boundless enthusiasm for music.
“I still feel like I’m this 17-year-old boy with this 64-year-old body,” he said and laughed during a call from his home in Santa Barbara, Calif.
As a teen, Noone led Herman’s Hermits to the top of the charts during the British invasion with million-sellers that included “There’s a Kind of Hush,” “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat,” “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” and “I’m Into Something Good.”
“The tunes were happy-go-lucky and the themes were all by young people about young people,” he said. “It’s sort of a timeless theme of young people falling in love and getting married, romance — it doesn’t ever really go away, does it?”
There was something special about that assault on American radio launched by lads from England in the mid-1960s.
“It was extraordinary because everybody in the British Invasion knew each other. We knew The Beatles and we knew The Stones, and we all knew each other,” Noone said. “England is a very small country, so we all played with each other and met each other on the road.”
Thanks to a role on the British soap opera “Coronation Street,” Noone had money to make music.
“All the acting stuff gave me money to buy rock ’n’ roll stuff — second-hand suits and old amplifiers and a used van,” he said. “We drove around in a van for two years playing concerts all over England and that was really hard work, but it was all preparation for the big time.
“Now, I don’t know what the big time gives you. I think it’s hard to come out of like ‘American Idol’ with all the best musicians in Los Angeles and the best sound and light men in the world and then go play at a club in Poughkeepsie. I don’t know what that preparation is, but we had a different kind of preparation. We learned how to duck beer bottles and all those things that I think are part of show business.”
A recent gig paired Noone with another ’60s heartthrob, Davy Jones of The Monkees. The two were in a band called Tiny Cowboy and sang a song titled “Meatloaf” on “Phineas & Ferb.”
“It was very exciting because lots of people — not just young people — watch that show,” Noone said. “And I thought my character [Adrian] was fun.”
Noone and Herman’s Hermits will perform with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. Jan. 14 at Stranahan Theater. Tickets range from $22 to $62.
“I have great fun with symphonies. I make them sing ‘I’m Henry the Eighth, I Am.’ They go, ‘Good god, I was never trained to do this: H-E-N-R-Y,’” he said and laughed.

NOTE: This is the 18th installment of a weekly series in which staff writer Mike Bauman will follow sixth-year Toledo senior cornerback Desmond Marrow for the 2011 season.

Desmond Marrow

When you’re skilled enough to play football at the collegiate level, there’s a certain level of respect you have for those who came before you.
That respect is a vital factor as to why sixth-year senior cornerback Desmond Marrow and his teammates have stood in the corner of UT head coach Matt Campbell since Tim Beckman’s departure. The team is confident heading into its Military Bowl matchup with Air Force on Dec. 28 in Washington, D.C.
“He definitely hasn’t missed a beat,” Marrow said of Campbell, who took over the Rockets’ football program Dec. 9 and was named the team’s new head coach Dec. 12. “Coach Campbell does his job so well. He’s a player’s coach, but at the same time he has that respect from the players. So we know, like, when to do things right.
“There’s a time to play around and have fun, but he’s about business. The players know that and we all respect him. So when you respect someone, you kind of just want to do good for them and you’ll play hard for anybody.”
A Massillon, Ohio, native, Campbell won three national championships as a player at Mount Union, where he racked up 207 tackles, 49 tackles for loss and 22 sacks in his career. Campbell also stood out among his peers, twice earning First Team All-American honors and twice being named the Ohio Athletic Conference’s Best Defensive Lineman in addition to garnering CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.
“Anytime anybody’s telling you something in life, it always means a little bit more and you may listen a little bit more when you know that they’ve been through it or they’ve actually done it,” Marrow said. “So I mean, coming from a great player like that, you definitely know that he knows what he’s talking about, that he’s not just saying anything. Like, he’s really speaking the truth because he’s actually been there and played. And [he] played at a high level.”
At 32 years old, Campbell is the youngest head football coach at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level in the NCAA. Having been part of five national championships as a player and a coach at Mount Union and with a coaching résumé that dates back to 2003, leading Toledo into a bowl for his first game as a head coach is not intimidating to Campbell.
“I’m used to playing these kind of football games,” Campbell said in his introductory news conference as the Rockets’ new head football coach. “To be honest with you, in my coaching career there’s only one time that I haven’t had the opportunity to play in a postseason game. So for me, it’s business as usual because I expect to be playing for championships in November and bowl games in December.”
Featuring two of the top 20 offenses in the nation, the Military Bowl is already being billed as a shootout by many around the country, something that Marrow doesn’t let ruffle his feathers as a defensive player.
“I mean, if you’re worried about that stuff then that stuff will just happen,” Marrow said. “So you’ve just got to go out there and play the game; just play every game as its own season.”
UT ranks No. 8 in the nation in total offense with an average of 493.17 yards per game, while Air Force is No. 2 nationally in rushing (320.33 ypg) and No. 19 in total offense (458.83 ypg).
“It’s a big challenge,” Marrow said. “We’ve just got to be disciplined as players. Everyone [needs to] do their job and we’ve got to tackle well.”
Marrow also knows the potential challenge of the atmosphere at the rustic RFK Stadium, given that the Rockets will play a military academy in a bowl game named after the military, which gives free tickets to the military.
“It’s nothing different for us,” Marrow said. “I mean, it pretty much seems like everything is against us anyways at Toledo. We always kind of get some type of bad deal, like, here and there. So I mean, there’s going to be a lot of military people there, but at the end of the day, once the ball’s kicked off it’s just a game and none of those people can control anything.”
Toledo (8-4, 7-1 Mid-American Conference) and Air Force (7-5, 3-4 Mountain West Conference) will compete in the Military Bowl at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 28 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The game will air live on ESPN.

As is my usual daily regimen, I was reading through several digital papers, websites and blogs on a recent Monday morning and I came across an article stating that San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to break the $10 barrier for the minimum wage. At $10.24, San Francisco’s minimum wage is $2 above the California minimum wage and almost $3 above the federal minimum wage.
I am sure that San Franciscans are very pleased with themselves. This proposition was passed in 2003 and it requires that the minimum wage be increased each year, using a formula tied to inflation and cost of living. It warms my heart that the caring people here have shown their support for the working class.
In an article, Karl Kramer of the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition said a “decent wage” for a single adult in the city should be more like $15 an hour, and more like $30 an hour for people who have at least one child. By that logic, a family of four should have a “decent wage” closer to $50 or $60 an hour, plus benefits of course.
The video provided by the Associated Press quoted a 34-year-old usher at a movie theater, (wait … a 34-year-old usher … I’ll bet he loves “Star Wars.”) Anyway, he said, “It means that I’ll have more money in my wallet to pay my bills and money to spend in the city to help the economy.”
I don’t know what disturbs me more, that a 34-year-old is an usher at a movie theater or that no one seems to understand the basic economics involved here. The owner of the movie theater makes most of his money from the concessions. Most of the ticket price goes to the owners of the movie, so that Tom Cruise can make a “decent wage.”
The owner’s recourse is to raise the price of popcorn to make up for the cost of labor, have fewer ushers or close the theater altogether. If he raises the cost of popcorn, he will sell less of it thereby making it very difficult to make up for the cost of labor. If he has fewer ushers, the more likely choice, the minimum wage will be collected by fewer people thereby increasing unemployment and the same result if he closes the theater altogether.
Too many people pass these laws with the intent of appearing compassionate, and yet they hurt the very people they are trying to help. Of course, their intent is pure so that makes it OK.
If someone wants to increase his or her income, they need to increase their productivity. Become more valuable to the employer through increased production or increased value and the wage will correlate. People want more money for the same production and they think that the business owner will simply absorb the difference since they are rich and just greedy.
Raising the minimum wage does not help the economy of San Francisco or any other community for that matter. The wealth pie needs to expand ,and removing more pieces from the pie without the corresponding production makes the pie smaller. Watch closely and see if the unemployment in the City by the Bay doesn’t increase over the next several months.
I am sure if it does that there will be a valid reason for it other than the increase in the minimum wage. “Bush’s fault” is the first that comes to mind.
The critical point I want to make is that our so-called leaders have no idea how to run a business or how economics actually works. The only way to increase wealth in this country is to have a free market that is free to work. Minimum wage laws create a mandated discrimination environment. The law will not allow me to hire who I want at a wage I want to pay. I have two choices: either I can hire someone under the regulators’ rules or I can decide not to hire anyone at all.
Business owners will soon reach a tipping point, if they haven’t already, where they won’t expand, won’t innovate and won’t create opportunities for themselves, their potential employees and community. Look around you, do you see it happening?
I do.

Gary L. Rathbun is the president and CEO of Private Wealth Consultants, Ltd. He can be heard every day at 4:06 on After the Bell with “Brian Wilson and the Afternoon Drive” and every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on “Eye on Your Money,” both on 1370 WSPD. He can be reached at (419) 842-0334 or via email at garyrathbun@privatewealth
consultants.com.

It is that time of year again, when we tell ourselves that after the holiday season is over we’ll get back on track. We’ll get things under control.
For me (Mark), the resolution usually involves something to do with body weight, eating habits and exercise. Sound familiar? For many of us it is that lifelong battle to maintain a satisfactory body shape. I can’t tell you how many times I have started off the new year on some new fad diet or a resolution to work out every day. In some years I have experienced success and in others not so much. Last year it was the HCG diet that was the latest rage. I lost about 25 pounds and felt great. My partner Nolan and his wife Karen each lost 40 pounds on the same diet. As usual, I have gained most of the weight back. Not quite all, so I am better off than last year at this time.
It seems that I have reached the age where your metabolism grinds to a complete halt. Each evening when I get home, I face the choice of the nice comfortable couch or getting my sweats on and heading down to the health club. Let me see, relax comfortably and watch sports or feel the pain of exerting myself? Which one do you think wins? I try my best to be a “half-full” kind of person, but the “half-empty” part of me wonders why I have the undesirable choice of either suffering and feeling hungry and thin or feeling full and like the Goodyear Blimp.
If you make resolutions each year, you should be congratulated. This shows character. When you finally reach the goal, it feels good. When you make a resolution, it shows that you care. People who care are inspiring. What kind of resolutions will you make this year? Most of us want to lose some weight, but here are a few suggestions if you want to get off to a great start this year.

• Life is short. Live each day to the fullest. Don’t forget this. Make sure you spend as much time as you can with your family and friends.
• Life is good. Be sure to count your blessings. If you do, you will find they far outnumber the trials you have to go through.
• These are the good old days. Don’t spend too much time looking forward or looking back.
• Update your will. OK, I guess you do have to look forward to plan ahead for your family. This is just smart business.
• Choose to be happy. We can choose what we focus our thoughts on. This can make a huge difference in how you feel on a day-to-day basis.
• Start a weekly exercise plan. If nothing else, walk around the block. You will feel better and your dog will love it.
• There is new technology in the savings and investment world. Explore what is available rather than continuing to do what may not be working so well.
• Adopt a cause you are passionate about. You will feel good if this is how you spend some time.
• Find a place of worship to regularly attend. Everyone needs the fellowship of others.
• Just do it. Don’t just talk about it. Do it. There are talkers and there are doers. As the saying in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” goes, “Get busy livin’, or get busy dyin’.”

May God bless you and your family this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
For more information about The Retirement Guys, tune in every Saturday at 1 p.m. on 1370 WSPD or visit www.retirementguysradio.com.Securities and Investment Advisory Services are offered through NEXT Financial Group Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC. NEXT Financial Group, Inc. nor its representatives provide tax advice. The Retirement Guys are not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group. The office is at 1700 Woodlands Drive, Suite 100, Maumee, OH 43537. (419)  842-0550

After living in more than 13 states, years working for cellular companies and a stint as a flight attendant, Betty Jane (BJ) Lowrie-Rahn has come home.
Rahn joined the Toledo Free Press sales team Nov. 15 as an account executive. She was born and raised in Toledo, attended the University of Toledo and said she is happy to return to her roots.
“I finally feel home; I feel like I’m where I belong with the Free Press,” Rahn said.
She most recently came from the St. Louis area where she worked for U.S. Cellular. She has also worked for Alltel Wireless, Nextel Communications, Cellcom and Missouri’s Corinthian College in the past. She has two children—a daughter, Emily, who is studying mechanical engineering at UT and a son, Cole, who is almost 16. A work day for Rahn means a non-stop meet and greet packed with car rides and phone calls to new and old clients as well as morphing business ideas into creative ad campaigns. Rahn said her No. 1 priority is bigger than making a sale on one advertisement.
“Honestly, it’s the people,” she said. “It’s the building relationships with the community and it is helping a business grow. My goal is to do my part to help Toledo and the economy get back on their feet.”
Rahn joins Toledo Free Press Sales Manager Renee Bergmooser and sales representatives Casey Fischer and Chick Reid. Email her at bjrahn@toledofreepress.com.

Dr. Blair Grubb has turned his experiences as a physician into “The Calling,” a book published by the University of Toledo Press. His book is a collection of several short stories detailing personal interactions between Grubb and his patients.
“The things that make my job the most meaningful are these interactions with people,” said Grubb, a professor at UT and director of University of Toledo Medical Center’s electrophysiology program. “If you deal with sick people, you see them at their best and their worst.”
Grubb spent his childhood outside of Baltimore in rural Maryland.
“I grew up in the middle of nowhere, actually on the outer limits of the middle of nowhere,” he said.
He went to vocational high school and worked as an electrician and construction worker, putting himself through the University of Maryland.
“I didn’t want to keep doing that so I went to medical school,” Grubb laughed. He attended the Universidad Central del Este in the Dominican Republic, where he met his wife, Barbara. They have been married for 35 years and have two adult children.
Grubb completed his residency training at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and later did a rotation at Johns Hopkins Hospital. At Johns Hopkins, Grubb witnessed some of the first defibrillator implants and became interested in cardiac electrophysiology, which deals with heart-rhythm disturbances. After a fellowship at Penn State University, he came to Toledo.
Barbara, along with a nontraditional patient, encouraged Grubb to write. In the mid-1990s, Grubb began corresponding with a French physician who had a sick grandchild. Over the Atlantic Ocean, through faxes and phone calls, Grubb recommended tests and treatments for the child, who eventually got well. In 1996, Grubb went to speak in France and was able to meet the family that he had helped. The child’s grandmother, afflicted with breast cancer, gave Grubb a menorah rescued from the Holocaust.
“I was very emotionally distraught about the whole thing and I had a hard time telling the story and still have a hard time telling the story; and my wife said when I came back to the States, ‘Why don’t you write it down?’” Grubb said. He submitted the story to the Annals of Internal Medicine, a journal for physicians. The editor was so taken with the piece that he bumped what was slated to run.
Grubb received 500 letters on the story.
“What’s interesting is I’ve published 200 and some papers, scientific papers; I get invited to speak all over. I have never gotten anything like the response I got from that piece,” he said. He went on to write more articles and served on the editorial board of the Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology journal. The editor, Dr. Seymour Furman, asked Grubb to be the editor of a human interest section in the journal. The caveat was that Grubb would have to write for the section if there wasn’t a submission.
“So I thought ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna write about?’ Then right after that, my dad died, I got real sick at one point, I had cancer at one point, a whole bunch of things happened at one point. And I felt like saying ‘Thank you for the prompt response, but you can stop now, I have plenty to write about,’” Grubb said and laughed.
A little more than a year ago, Joel Lipman of the UT Press approached Grubb to compile some of these stories into a book. The book’s local ties are important to Grubb.
“I’m very glad it was done by the UT Press,” he said, adding, “This book has been produced, planned and distributed locally. It’s something for our community, something that’s uniquely ours.”
“The Calling” is available for $15 at www.utoledopress.com/thecalling.html.