CINspirational People
Russ Childers Shares His Appalachian Roots
For more than 20 years, I coordinated the media relations for the Appalachian Festival at Coney Island; and two of my favorite people who I got to know through it were Barb and Russ Childers. Musicians, storytellers, educators, square dance fans, and all around kind hearted people who are also passionate about their Appalachian roots, they were always fun to be around.
I caught up with Russ the other day, and I thought he would be a perfect person to feature here.
As fiddler, and banjo and dulcimer player, for more than 40 years, Russ has been sharing his heritage with our community through music at our region’s most popular events and venues. On stage he is often recognized as part of the Rabbit Hash String Band or his and Barb’s husband-wife team known as Bear Foot. He is a master musician with the Ohio Arts Council. Russ’s banjo playing has even earned him numerous state awards including the Kentucky State Clawhammer Banjo Champion. In May 2000, he was the recipient of the Appalachian Heritage Award from the Cincinnati Appalachian Community Development Association.
School children throughout Kentucky and Ohio look forward to his presentations where he demonstrates instrument building, teaches them how to make music on reclaimed materials, and has even been known to get them up and square dancing.
Let’s get to know a little more about Russ.
Lisa: What is one of your greatest accomplishments?
Russ: I am most proud my ability to give the gift of music to people. I have a knack for helping others learn how to play it. When they are successful, it makes them very happy. And makes me happy too. I have a buddy who wanted to play the banjo. He became my apprentice and even played in my band. It is such a joy to see how his face lights up when he is on stage as part of our group.
Lisa: Square dancing is an important part of your story. Can you explain?
Russ: My dad used to talk about how he would ride a mule to the dance, and ride the mule home again. When he moved to Cincinnati in the late 1930s there was a square dance at the YWCA downtown, and that is where he met my mom. Barb is an accomplished Appalachian clogger and we met at a square dance too.
These days, for the past three or four years, the Rabbit Hash String Band has been playing music and I have been honing my skills as a square dance caller at the Northside Tavern. It is all about spreading information on the Appalachian culture in a positive light. Our philosophy is that we are not there to make you a better dancer but we want you to leave smiling, and, if you gain some knowledge about square dancing, all the better.
Lisa: What would you like for people to remember most about you?
Russ: I want people to think of me as a nice person who wants to share his knowledge. Someone who is a good friend.
Lisa: Can you tell us about someone who has been an important influence on you?
Russ: My wife, Barb. She believes in everything I do and encourages me to try everything. When I am feeling down, she is always there to bolster me up and encourage me to look at things from a new perspective.
Deneen Wolber Is Passionate About Helping
Today, I’d like to introduce you to Deneen Wolber. I met Deneen when I was promoting the 2015 Cincinnati ReelAbilities Film Festival. She worked in development at one of the Festival’s beneficiary agencies, the Spina Bifida Coalition of Greater Cincinnati.
If you have been fortunate enough to know Deneen, you know she is someone absolutely passionate with life, making the most of it, and giving back to making the 
world a better place. She has an endless supply of energy that she generously gives to better the lives of animals, those in her circles and causes she holds dear.
Deneen told me she has been a fund and event organizer for more than 30 years, having gotten started as a volunteer in her community and for her son’s school. She worked for the Spina Bifada Coalition for four years before joining the Muscular Dystrophy Association to serve as a fundraising coordinator.
Please take a few minutes to learn more about Deneen below.
Lisa: When people first meet you, what do you think they notice first?
Deneen: Definitely they can feel my passion right away. I get so excited when it comes to helping people and animals. I often put others before myself. I just enjoy life and meeting people. I always seem to make friends for life.
Lisa: You talk about how your job at the Spina Bifada Society was life changing. Can you elaborate?
Deneen: It is so very important to me that everyone be included and be given the opportunity to experience life to their fullest. Those affected by a disability or medical condition are no different. What was so very special about my time with the Spina Bifada Coalition is how my son, who is almost 18, chose to volunteer with the organization and how he learned about people who are different from himself. He got his friends involved also. I raised him to have a huge heart for helping people and it has been great to see his continued growth.
Lisa: What are some accomplishments for which you are most proud?
Deneen: There has been a lot. Of course my son is top on that list. When I was vice president of the PTO for his elementary school, I started its Spirit Shop and helped create a lot of very successful events and those Festivals are still going strong. When Ben was a baby, I helped start the Mom’s Club of Ft Thomas as a group for support each other and sharing ideas; and I served as its vice presidents. It is wonderful to see that still flourishing and to know so many new mothers are benefitting.
Lisa: Tell us about someone who impacted your life.
Deneen: My mom and my grandmother were my best friends growing up. My grandmother passed away in September when she was 95. I will always cherish time spent with her. I see so much of my grandma in me. She too was very strong willed, social, and goal oriented. She worked until three months before she died.
Grandma used to tell me to always read, and to interact with people and keep moving and thinking, because those are all things that will keep you alive. She also used to tell me that I have a gift of never looking at anyone differently. Even growing up as a child, I was friends with everyone.
Lisa: Tell us about an act of kindness from your life.
Deneen: A close friend of mine since the fourth grade, when Nancy was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer she was given one year to live. I refused to accept that. I did everything I could to keep Nancy alive from doing fun things with her to raising money. I put my life on hold during that time because I was not going to let Nancy give up. I look back on that time now and it really makes me feel good. It made me so happy to do that for her.
Lisa: What advice do you have for others on living life?
Deneen: You need to go out there and do what you love doing. What Nancy taught me is that life is short. Just be happy and do what you love.
#GoodThingsCincy
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CINspirational People: Dr. Verne Fairhurst, DVM
I have known and respected Dr. Verne J. Fairhurst, DVM, since beginning my pet training career and continue to be impressed by him and his team of other caring veterinarians and staff. Dr. Fairhurst is owner and medical director of the Montgomery Animal Hospital in Kenwood. Understanding the importance of positive training, they have referred many clients to me and have invited me to speak to their clients several times. Please learn more about Dr. Fairhurst in my interview below.
Lisa: Your grandmother had a special impact on your work. Can you explain?
Dr. Fairhurst: My paternal grandmother lived on farm with 20 cats, mostly working toms whose job was to control the rodent population. She believed in reincarnation and told me that she would come back as a tomcat because they have a great life – running all night and being catered to all day by a “a fat old lady” as she described herself. I was in veterinary school at the time, so she told me she would come back specifically to me. When I pointed out that tomcats get neutered, she told me that 
before neutering any cat, I should look it in the eye and if I see a twinkle, it’s my grandmother – and I shouldn’t neuter her. To this day, I always look each cat in the eye, but I’ve yet to see her twinkle.
Lisa: Tell us about someone who has been an important influence in your life and why.
Dr. Fairhurst: When other kids were stumbling over the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’ I knew I was going to be a veterinarian. That career choice was shaped by a family friend – a well-respected leader in our small town – who was a veterinarian. When I was just a snotty-nosed kid of 11, I liked what he did. Who doesn’t like animals? He really took time with me, letting me hang around the animal hospital.
When my buddies were playing ball, I was cleaning cages and observing how to interact with animals and their owners. I hung around him for 20 years. The summer between my sophomore and junior years in college I lived at his animal hospital, observing during the day and answering emergency calls in the middle of the night. During part of that time he served as president of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), an organization that sets the highest standard of care for veterinary hospitals. Only 12% of hospitals earn AAHA accreditation. Today, one of those is my practice, Montgomery Animal Hospital. AAHA accreditation shapes every aspect of our practice and I credit my mentor for exposing me to the best way to practice veterinary medicine.
Lisa: Tell us about your favorite vacation.
Dr. Fairhurst: Hiking is often a focal point of our vacations, so it was particularly appealing when my wife, Gail, who is a Professor in the Communications Department at the University of Cincinnati, was invited to an annual leadership conference in southern Utah. Our three kids and I tagged along – six different times. While Gail attended conference sessions, we hiked, kayaked and enjoyed the outdoor adventures at Bryce Canyon, Zion Canyon and Capitol Reef National Park. It wasn’t all work for Gail. During conference breaks she was able to join in the fun.
Lisa: What was your first job and what life lessons did you learn from it?
Dr. Fairhurst: I worked in a funeral home, helping with yard work and other responsibilities. As you can imagine, I saw people during their most difficult times. That taught me the importance of respecting people, particularly when they aren’t at their best. At the time, I didn’t realize the life lessons l was learning at that job, but now I see that it helped to shape the way I treat people, especially my clients. The experience taught me patience, how to handle emotional situations, remain calm, act professionally and communicate with people.
Lisa: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Dr. Fairhurst: My parents always encouraged me to pursue my interests and to never give up on my goals. Their encouragement and confidence in me gave me confidence in myself. My goal, of course, had always been to be a veterinarian, yet getting into veterinary school is difficult. With my parents’ encouragement and the confidence they instilled in me, I applied and was accepted at Ohio State. It’s a tough program, so my parents’ advice kept me going during those sometimes challenging times.
Lisa: What are some of your favorite activities outside of work and family?
Dr. Fairhurst: I enjoy hiking, kayaking, reading nonfiction adventure books and running.
#GoodThingsCincy
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CINspirational People: Vickie Mertz
I have known Vickie Mertz virtually for years. Her day job is with a nonprofit organization called Cincinnati Works, a nonprofit organization that helps people in our community who are unemployed or underemployed to raise above poverty and gain economic self-sufficiency. It has always been so obvious that Vickie’s career means so much more to her than simply a paycheck. Her passion for wanting to empower and energize people comes through loud and clear.
I learned recently of yet one more reason to admire the woman behind those inspirational posts. Quietly, without any need or want of recognition, Vickie has been using her own money to buy ingredients for brown bag meals of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with pretzels or chips, and distributing them to people on the streets who haven’t the means to purchase meals for themselves. Tucked into each bag is a little note from Vickie that reads, “God loves you and so do I. Sign my name.” John 316 In the cold months of January and February, she also collects winter outerwear.
Vickie is known to always have a stock with her in her car, as she never knows when she may see someone from her window in need of generosity. She also spends some of her lunch hours downtown, walking the sidewalks in search of hungry and/or cold people.
“I have been blessed over and over by them wanting to hug me or thank me because I got there at just the right time,” she told me as her voice broke in emotion. “One man said, ‘thank God I (Vickie) was there’ because he was about to get something off the street.”
I was so touched that I needed to feature her. Vickie is absolutely a CINspirational Person.
Lisa: Where does your inspiration come from for doing this?
Vickie: Personally in my own life, I went three years without a furnace and just used space heaters when my husband wasn’t working. Doing this for others is just something my heart tells me to do. I know that I need to share now because I can.
Lisa: How do you find the people to help?
Vickie: I work on Walnut Street. They are not difficult to find. When I head out, I pray about whether to turn right or left; and either direction, I always find people in need.
Lisa: Are there any people whose stories stand out to you?
Vickie: I don’t ask people why they are on the street so I don’t know many of their stories, but I remember how the impact of my helping them.
I remember seeing one woman right across the street from me. She slept there day and night. One morning I walked over to her with coffee. She had a blanket over head. I asked her if would like the coffee, and the woman said ‘no’. The next day I took her coffee and a protein bar. On the third day, I said my name and asked for her name. ‘Jeanelle’, she said. She said she had a laptop in her backpack and she went to school. When she pulled her hands out to accept the gloves I had brought, I noticed the gold ring on her grimy hands. It occurred to me that she was able to keep the ring and backpack somehow. I knew there was more to her story. I reached out to organizations asking they come and talk to her about going to a shelter. Then, one day she was gone. My prayer is that she is in a better place.
#GoodThingsCincy #randomactsofkindness
CINspirational People: Nick St. Pierre
Nick St. Pierre has an absolutely incredible, rare gift to make people smile and laugh. I have admired him for many years, probably even given him a hug or two. That is…to his former alter ego – Cincinnati Reds mascot, Gapper.
Little did he know when he was first hired by the Reds as a rally pack cheerleader shooting T-shirts to the fans, that his career would go on to create one of Major League Baseball’s most beloved mascots. The idea began over a conversation Nick had with then Reds Chief 
Operating Officer John Allen in 2001. Gapper made his first appearance in the new stadium in 2003.
These days, while Nick has passed on the torch of being Gapper a couple seasons ago, he continues his full time job as mascot coordinator with the Reds.
After reading my interview below, I think you will see why Nick was the perfect person to originate our Cincinnati legend. And, if you see Nick on the street, you will probably want to run up and give him a hug.
Lisa: What is an accomplishment you achieved that you are proud of?
Nick: I am very proud of being employed with the Cincinnati Reds for the past 19 yrs and all the, not only fun, but good things I have been able to do for people. Knowing how much people enjoy this team and being able to share it with those who love it is a blessing.
Lisa: Tell us about someone who has been a positive influence in your life.
Nick: It is difficult to limit it to just one. I am surrounded by positive influences from players, coaches, celebrities and some of the richest people in the city but if I had to narrow it down, I would have to say a small boy that I met while making an appearance at the Cincinnati Airport.
A guest of a Christmas Celebration being hosted by CVG and Delta, he, as well as the rest of the group were of low income families. The kind you never hear about because they are working very hard and are very proud of not accepting assistance. In costume I gravitated to him because he was shy and stayed away from everyone else. In a short amount of time we bonded.
I, pretending to be one of my loving dogs, without speaking was able to communicate that I was there for him and we were pals. There came a time in the event when the kids were given large gift bags full of toys and other stuff. Each one had a name on it for each child. As the distribution went on, my guy kept getting passed up. Other children around us were opening their bags and revealing in the gifts they had received while my buddy and me sat and watched. After what felt like a very long time and watching everyone else now adding batteries to said gifts, still nothing came. Finally, the volunteers found his gift bag and we had a great time together, opening and sharing in his new stuff.
I talk about him because he still inspires me. While we sat waiting, he did not waiver from his smile. He appeared to be genuinely happy for everyone else and satisfied with just watching. This still amazes me, to remember his sense of calm and comfort and for him not to have, at any point, stated “well what about me?” was truly an inspiration.
He taught me to see the joy and delight in any situation. During all this taking place, I am running through my mind of how I am mad that this is happening, and I will personally take him to Toys R Us and buy him one of everything. But as I say, watching him not get the least bit upset calmed me and everything worked out. So, to make a short answer long, my person who was a positive influence in a nameless little boy that I spent an hour with at a Christmas Party.
Lisa: What is a motto you live by and why or how has it impacted you?
Nick: I have one chance to make a fan for life
and
It’s always someone’s first game.
These have served me well in the world of sports, but both apply to me in my daily life. I have one chance to make a fan for life is the same as only one first impression. I approach everyone, even strangers as though we are friends. At this point neither one of us have done anything to upset the other so why wouldn’t we be friends?
It’s always someone’s first game refers to approaching everyone with a sense of “how can I help you”. I don’t avoid folks that may appear in need even if I cannot help. Sometimes a kind word, or acknowledgement of existence, goes a long way. By adapting these motto’s to daily life, it really helps to avoid becoming selfish and cold and closed minded.
Lisa: What is your biggest motivator?
Nick: The fans of the Cincinnati Reds and my son.
The fans give me motivation to come to work every day. Having the chance to grant wishes for folks makes me feel like a real life genie. Then there is my son, He is 23 and has assumed my responsibilities as Gapper, one of my mascots. I am motivated to make things better and easier for him than I had it. I am motivated by his growing love for a job that I was so very proud of personally. I have had the conversation with others that as a parent, I can think of nothing more satisfying than knowing you have taught your child a skill that he can feed and support himself on. I am comfortable that my son could get him a job in any pro sports venue as the mascot performer coordinator person.
Lisa: Tell us about an act of kindness you have done, witnessed or been the recipient of and how that made you feel.
Nick: There are more examples than I can name. One comes to mind.
I was in Marietta doing an appearance at a baseball camp. While in costume I had a young man that would not leave me alone. At one point I was tripping over him because he would not stop. At that point to get a little distance, I grabbed his hat and threw it knowing he would go after it, this would give me a minute to get to the next location before he returned to stand on top of me again. He did not return as quickly as I would have thought. When he returned, he stated that he couldn’t find his hat, that it had disappeared. There were many older kids standing in the area of where I threw it. I assumed all being in the same camp that they wouldn’t steal from each other. But, that I feared, is what happened. He hung out with me the rest of the event and at the end, his mother approached me and explained that the hat was brand new and how difficult it would be to replace since they had to save for so long to afford the camp itself.
This crushed me. As soon as I got back to the office a couple days later, I immediately went to our team shop, purchased a professional style hat, had is named stitched onto the outside and sent that to him. I heard back a few weeks later from an uncle stating that he had gotten the hat and was very proud of it.
I have since and still do send him things that I collect from around here. I have never gotten a thank you but am not in it for that. I figure if this kid realizes there is someone other than his family who cares about him, and perhaps he will have a better shot in life than those who fell they have no one.
Please join me for my newest event,
A Night of CINspiration on February 25, 2016
and you will hear Nick share more stories…
and meet Gapper!
#GoodThingsCincy
