People Who Inspire Me
Five Year Old Raises Money For Oklahoma Tornado Victims
Five year old Aiden Thacker has been attending The Kinder Garden School in West Chester
since he was a toddler, and director Trudi Simpson told me he has always been an empathetic little boy. Still, what a special surprise when he walked into her office out of the blue one day recently and told her he wanted to raise money for the families who lost everything in the Oklahoma tornado.
“What could I say? Of course I wanted to support him,” Trudi said. “I suggested that he make a sign and write a letter to the KGS families and he responded immediately. He got his whole class involved.”
This is what his note read: “My name is Aiden. I want to help all the people of the tornado. They need food, clothes, toys and money for their homes. So, please help.”
Aiden’s goal is to raise $500 to donate to Matthew 25 Ministries which will go directly to aid the victims of the May 20 tornado. And he has already exceeded that goal with the help of family, neighbors and classmates.
Aiden’s sign he made to display at his school
The Kinder Garden School will hold a ceremony so Aiden can present the money to a representative of Matthew 25 Ministries on June 7.
“We are all so proud of Aiden and his philanthropic spirit,” Trudi said. “He is such a loving boy and for him to be so enthusiastic about helping others shows just what a future leader looks like.”
Firefighters Honored For Saving Lives At Beverly Hills Super Club
I remember that Memorial Day weekend 36 years ago well. Friends of my parents told the story of escaping one of the horrific events of their life. Flames roared through the Beverly Hills Super Club, leveling it and claiming the lives of 165 people and injuring many more that evening. Everyone at their party thankfully got out but for those who survived, their 
memories will forever remain.
It was four brutal days and nights for the hundreds of area firefighters who worked tirelessly at that Southgate landmark. Those heroes saved more than 2,000 people in the deadliest Kentucky fire ever known.
Tonight, May 24, 2013, the Kentucky State Fire Marshall will honor the local firefighters with a presentation of the Medal of Valor, the highest honor for a fire department, to the Southgate Fire Department. And firefighters from throughout the region who battled the supper club fi
re will receive ribbons.
Dick Riesenberg was the Southgate fire chief at time of fire, and was the second firefighter to arrive to the club’s entrance when the emergency call came in to the Southgate Fire Department. He nearly lost 19 firefighters from his crew as the Cabaret Room ceiling was beginning to collapse from the heat. Dick lobbied for the award that is being given tonight.
“Our guys did a tremendous job, and I was very proud to be their leader that night,” he told Cindy Schroeder of the Kentucky Enquirer. “More than 2,000 people, or 96 percent of the people who were at the club that night, were saved.”
A Tribute To Teachers
Every day millions of teachers are entrusted with the lofty responsibility of teaching our nation’s children. And, on any normal day, that is exactly what they do. But then, there are those not so normal days when the unthinkable becomes reality. When a shooter ravages the hallways or a powerful tornado pillages the classrooms. On those days, we are reminded these teachers who are entrusted with our future are also protectors and heroes.
Thank you to them!
Jackie Robinson And His Gift To Our World
Today, at Greater American Ballpark and every other major league ballpark across the nation, in homes and businesses, in schools…and in movie theatres thousands will pay a tribute to a humanitarian, a father, a baseball legend, a hero.
Sixty-six years ago, when the civil rights bill was but a distant dream, a young man with unbridled talent stepped onto the field wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers jersey and the number 42 embellished on his back.
That man was Jackie Robinson, a former varsity athlete lettered in four sports at UCLA and a former second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He also, as we all know, happened to have been African American. And on that historic day in the office of a bold businessman, Jackie courageously stepped forward to change history books forever when he signed to become the first black athlete to play major league baseball.
All around him people were separated by the color of their skin – in schools, the military, hotels, restaurants, buses, and yes, even the entrances to ball parks. Cruel racial (and religious) antagonism ran deep.
Jackie and Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey knew if they were to be successful in integrating baseball; it had to be with dignity not fists.
Jackie: “You want a player who doesn’t have the guts to fight back?”
Branch: “No, I want a player who has the guts NOT to fight back.”
“We win if we convince the world of two things – that you are a fine gentleman and a great baseball player,” Branch told the new rookie.
Jackie’s moral compass was tested as no man should ever have to be tested. Racial epithets pelted him on and off the field. Fellow Dodgers signed a petition to have him kicked off the team. He received death threats. The manager of the Philadelphia Phillies heckled him with the N-word for five unrelenting minutes (it may have been longer in real life). Even in Cincinnati’s own Crosley Field, the stands erupted in boos and jeers as Jackie stepped onto the field.
Through it all, he stood tall. Jackie proved to the world that he was a fine gentleman AND a great baseball player. And by Branch’s definition – I’d say he resoundedly won.
In 1997, under the direction of Commissioner Bud Selig, Robinson’s No. 42 was retired across all of Major League Baseball in an unprecedented tribute. However, today and every April 15, baseball players across the country will all be wearing his number in his memory and his honor for what he has given the game – and what he has given the world.
Stories like that of Jackie are so important for us to know and talk about. They are important lessons and reminders of what we as neighbors, friends, and co-workers must always remember. Our diversity is a gift that brings us different perspectives and opens our eyes to new opportunities. And the really beautiful thing is that, if you look deeper, you will find that we all share the most basic of needs – the need to be valued, included and loved.
Miss Junior Teen Ohio, Jessica Waters, Has Can DO Attitude
On May 18, 2008, just days before Jessica Waters was to become 12, got the news that would rock her world. Finally, the trouble she was having with focusing and remembering in school was given a name. Jessica became one of the estimated 2.5 million America
ns diagnosed with Epilepsy, a disease of the central nervous system.
Suddenly, this young girl who liked to think of herself as the ‘tough kid’ was fighting the battle of her life. In her teenage years she has experienced three kinds of seizures including seven grand mal seizures. And her medicine altered her personality. Jessica was told she could no longer ride her bike and coaches no longer wanted her on their sports teams. She was asked not to attend parties. She was told she would never be able to dance, tumble or cheer again – her great passions. She was harassed and bullied.
It was a summer camp, Camp Flamecatcher for children with epilepsy and other disabilities, where Jessica came to realize she CAN still swim, canoe, run, swing, and do arts and crafts. And, she saw other kids doing those things too.
“It really opened my eyes,” she said. “Kids don’t realize how much they can do. Camp taught me that epilepsy wasn’t a defining factor in my life.”
But that experience wouldn’t have been possible for her without a sponsor. It is a gift that she is paying forward. She founded Cupcake Charity (with support from her mom) to raise scholarship money to send other kids to Camp Flamecatcher whose families otherwise couldn’t afford the cost. Jessica raised enough for two partial and one full scholarship, and she is working hard to raise more this year.
The Camp experience also stirred her to action in another way. “People just don’t listen to young people well and I thought what better way to do something about that then to go for a title,” she said. “I researched the pageant organizations that care about what you do for others and that is what I am all about.”
Meet Miss Junior Teen Ohio 2012
At 15, Jessica – Miss Junior Teen Ohio 2012 – is a dedicated advocate for the Epilepsy Foundation, a member of her school’s Varsity Dance Team, a cheerleader for Beavercreek City Schools, received an All Team Academic Aw
ard and varsity letter for playing hockey, and is always looking for volunteer opportunities. Jessica is the youngest TWIG Auxiliary member for Dayton Children’s Hospital and is working with Julie Vann (previous mayor of Beavercreek) to establish a scholarship in honor of students her school has lost. For all that Jessica has accomplished, her list of accolades is simply too long to list.
I asked Jessica what her message is to other young people like herself. “I tell them to not let their disease or disability define them. You can do anything you put your mind to.”
I think that is a great lesson for all of us.
