Laura Simmons, operations manager at the Lucas County Dog Warden’s Office, worked a half day on the Fourth of July.

She also went to the beach and the park because she promised her 31-year-old boyfriend, Luke Wark of Sandusky, that she would do something fun.

But she was still preoccupied.

The holiday used to be, “Oh, whatever, Fourth of July, yay,” she said, but since Wark is serving in Afghanistan, it is much more serious.

“It means a whole lot more. And Memorial Day took on a whole new meaning, too,” she said. Wark signed the papers with the National Guard right before they began hanging out in January 2010.

“I didn’t think he was going to go overseas. I said, ‘That is so cool, that is so exciting,’ ” Simmons said. “We didn’t know where our relationship was going to go.”

Spc. Wark volunteered for Afghanistan after being asked if he wanted to go. He might have been forced to go eventually, but this time around he wanted to go, she said.

“He is the left-door gunner in the helicopter. He never tells me all the details. I am not sure if he can or if he just doesn’t want to scare me.”

Text messaging and Skyping help with the distance and the constant worrying. She usually hears from him at least once per day, which eases her mind. On the Fourth of July, she posted on his Facebook, “So proud of you mister!” He replied, “Thanks hun, proud of you too!”

“We are able to talk every day right now,” Simmons said. “When he first left, we didn’t know if we could even talk once per week. Knowing how he is doing is a huge relief.”

One time she received a text from him that said there had been a car bomb at his base, but he was OK and to tell his family.

But then she didn’t hear from him again for 48 hours.

“I was in tears all day,” she said.

One thing Simmons never expected was to receive so much support as a military girlfriend. People thank her for both of their sacrifices. Some of his friends even took her out for her 27th birthday because he couldn’t.”

“People realize that our guys are over there, and there are families here who are making sacrifices, too,” she said.

The couple’s latest sacrifice is no summer visit.

“He will be back before Thanksgiving, but we don’t know for sure. He was supposed to come home for a two-week leave during the summer, and we had some fun things planned. It was kind of a bummer that it was canceled.”

Simmons said it helps when other people take the Fourth of July as seriously as she does now.

“It isn’t just the picnics and the fireworks. There is a whole other side, and people need to remember that.”

Tags: Brandi Barhite, Community Ombudsman, Holidays, July 4, Laura Simmons, Luke Wark, Memorial Day, military families, military service, National Guard

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2012 at 11:00 am and is filed under Community, Community Ombudsman, Military.
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The Toledo Police Department will be increasing traffic enforcement for the Memorial Day week.

In a press release distributed on May 23, the police department says it plans a citywide “enforcement blitz” at various time periods between May 27 – June 4. The department plans to enforce all traffic violations with a special emphasis on speeding and seatbelt offenders as part of the “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt campaign.

The department will be paying the overtime work of the officers from a federal grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to Toledo. Under this grant since Oct. 2010, officers at special enforcement areas, including school and construction zones as well as major thoroughfares, have issued 954 citations in 1,098 vehicle stops. Of those citations, 640 have been for speeding, which carries a minimum fine of $143.

Tags: City of Toledo, Law Enforcement, Memorial Day, Toledo Police

This entry was posted on Monday, May 23rd, 2011 at 2:45 pm and is filed under City of Toledo, Community.
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The Toledo area will celebrate Memorial Day with parades and memorial services in honor of those who lost their lives serving our country. Unless otherwise noted, all events are scheduled for Monday, May 31.

• Toledo will have a parade on Saturday that starts at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Monroe Street and Summit Street. After the parade, a service will be conducted at the Civic Center Mall.
• Sylvania will have a memorial service at 9 a.m. at the Toledo Memorial Park Cemetery. At 10 a.m., a parade will step off from Lourdes College campus and end with a memorial service at the Veterans Memorial Field.
• Perrysburg’s parade will begin on Louisiana Street at 10 a.m. and end with a service at Fort Meigs Union Cemetery.
• Maumee’s parade will start at 9:30 a.m. at the Maumee United Methodist Church on Sackett Street. The parade will end with a closing ceremony.
• Rossford will hold a parade on Sunday starting at 1:30 at Elm Street and Dixie Highway. It will take Hannum Avenue down to Veterans Memorial Park for a memorial service with a few speakers.
• Bowling Green’s parade will assemble at the post office at 10:30 on Monday. It will proceed north on Main Street and stop at the Court House for a acknowledgment of the service monuments, then go on to the Oak Grove cemetery for laying of the wreaths and a ceremony.
• Findlay will host a ceremony honoring veterans at 9 a.m. at the Main Street bridge, followed by a parade that starts at the intersection of Main Street and Front Street at 10 a.m.
• Monroe will host a Memorial Day sunrise ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at 6:30 a.m. Its Memorial Day parade will begin at 2 p.m. at Jones Avenue and end at St. Mary’s Park on Elm Avenue.

Tags: Memorial Day

This entry was posted on Friday, May 28th, 2010 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Community, Military.
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