Blood Drive - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Blood Drive

The following article published by the Community Blood Center honors my amazing aunt Irene:

COUNTRY FUN BLOOD DRIVE BELL RINGS FOR IRENE

The Boerger family, their many friends, and some 358 blood donors rang the bell for Irene at the June 21 Country Fun Blood Drive at St. Michael’s Hall. What better way to honor Irene’s legacy than by her keeping her 22-year-old blood drive record unmatched but challenging it in a way she could only admire. The blood drive was dedicated to Irene Boerger who served as the Community Blood Center account representative in Shelby County for 38 years and passed away in 2021. It included a drawing for two tickets to “Country Concert 22” in Fort Loramie, a tradition started by Irene.

Irene’s Family Supporting the Blood Drive

The family set an ambitious goal of recruiting 500 donors, hoping to surpass the record of 495 donors set exactly 22 years ago on June 21, 2000 at St. Michael’s Hall. Tuesday’s blood drive totaled 358 whole blood, double red cell, platelet and plasma donors, topping 104% of the collection goal set by CBC. It was a 42% increase in donors compared to the 2021 Country Fund Blood Drive. Another goal was to attract first-time donors. Tuesday’s blood drive had 19 new donors, a 280% jump from a year ago.

Roger Bender & Diane Giving Blood with Well-worn Buckeye Blanket to Keep Warm

“I feel really pride,” said Irene’s daughter Diane Meyer, who coordinated the blood drive with Jane Poeppelman and Roger Bender and made her 342nd lifetime donation. “Mom has been gone for eight months and people are still coming to donate and talk about mom. I know we set the goal for 500 but we set it big for a reason. I think the blood center is happy with the number we brought in. My mom would have been thrilled.” The challenge was steep because of how blood collection has changed. St. Michael’s Hall now hosts six community blood drives per year and there are many more blood drives in and around Shelby County. They acknowledged a more obtainable goal might be 350 donors. “We set our goals high,” said Roger Bender. “We didn’t reach the pie in the sky goal, but we exceeded the official goal. She would be pleased.” Irene’s record may be one for the ages. “Tuesday was a big day for Community Blood Center and people who give the ‘gift of life,’” said the June 21, 2000 story in the Sidney Daily News. “What an experience,” Irene told the SDN. “People were stopping in all day long to talk. Some had received blood, so they were thanking donors for their generosity. It was a very special day.” Tuesday was also a special day. It rivaled the 382 single-day donors at the 2012 Miami Greek Week Blood Drive and topped the 335 at the 2009 Country Fun Blood Drive. Boerger siblings Diane, Sharon Brandewie, Julie Gaier, Nancy Havener, Lois and Frank Boerger used the 2000 blood drive as a blueprint Tuesday’s remembrance. They rang Irene’s bell and blew a train whistle to celebrate milestone donors and announce door prizes. Red paint on a blood drop poster marked the progress toward the donor goal. Just as 22 years ago, they decorated a Sidney Fire Department engine with blood drive posters and it circled the town, with horns blaring, to drum up a few more donors for the blood drive.

Unique to this blood drive was a balloon launch and the release of live butterflies to begin the day. “When our dad died, she picked up the butterfly symbol because it means a new beginning,” announced Diane. “She carried it over to the blood center because when you give the gift of life it’s a new beginning to someone who needs the product. Watch these butterflies fly up to the sky and say hello to mom.” Donors placed butterfly stickers on a poster of Irene when they entered the hall and filled out tickets for the every-half-hour door prize drawings. “This her bell, and this is her train whistle,” said Irene’s son Frank as he used the noisemakers to get the blood drive rolling. Irene’s grandson Chris Meyer was one of the first to donate. “I got my donation in! I wanted to hit our threshold and get to the big number,” said Chris. “My grandma has been doing this for years, always asking people to donate and helping others.” “I remember the whistle,” said donor Jack Hoying. “You had to hit the gallon mark. It was nice to have, and it was nice to be recognized by Irene.” “I remember the cowbell, said Russian donor Ed Grogan. “She was a clown too! She liked to joke around! I miss her.” “She was definitely one of kind, and creative,” said Roger Bender. “She was constantly dreaming up ways to encourage people to donate. She knew if she could get someone to donate once, she might get them back.” “She’s why Shelby County is where we are in blood drives,” said Jane Poeppelman. “You say her name in the county and they know who you are talking about, a legend. When you have a great foundation, you have a great structure. St. Michael’s Hall is a big hall, but it’s full.”

The blood drive depended again on volunteers and sponsors from the Fort Loramie American Legion Ladies Auxiliary, the Fort Loramie Community Service Club, St. Michael’s Church and the Knights of St. John. In the first two hours the bell rang for the first 100 donors, and for milestones. Keith Bey gave double red cells to reach 101 lifetime donations. “I was excited,” he said. “It’s a big occasion, kind of big deal for the blood center and Irene.” Bill Tady celebrated his 200th donation. His AB blood type is ideal for plasma donations. “Irene got me on that a long time ago,” he said. “I was always doing whole blood and she said, ‘Can’t you do plasma?'" St. Remy’s Hall coordinator Carl York visited from Russia to show support for the family. “We started with one blood drive a year at St. Remy’s,” said Carl. “Irene was always there.” At midday Nancy added red to the blood drop to mark 200 donors. “This would mean everything to mom, everything,” said Nancy. “She would be so honored. Carl York came from Russia to be part of this. She started him as a blood donor. This community keeps giving back. When they support you, they support you.” “The Country Concert started, and mom gave away tickets,” said Sharon Brandewie, Irene’s oldest daughter. “She paid for them herself for years. Whenever she bought prizes, she used Fort Loramie businesses to support the community.” Lee Dabbelt, godson to Irene’s late husband Frank, came from New Bremen to make his first lifetime donation. “I got the email from Diane and said, ‘You know I’ve never done this before, now is as good as time as ever. I owe it to her.”
Tom Albers, long time blood drive coordinator at Sacred Heart Parish, came from McCartyville to donate. “She was a nice lady,” said Tom. “You didn’t tell her how to do a blood draw, she was set in her ways! I was at a Wright State basketball game and heard, ‘Hello Tom!’ She picked me out of the crowd. She remembered people.” At 5:30 p.m. Nancy announced, “We’re up to 312!” Christian McGee, a senior at Fort Loramie High, made first lifetime donation and said, “My mom got me into it!”

When it was time for the 6 p.m. mass at St. Michael’s for Irene, the goal of 500 appeared out of reach. “What else could we do?” said Diane. “We had to go for a new record, if we didn’t mom would be so mad! I’ll send everyone who came a hand-written thank you note. That’s what she would do.” In the final hour of the blood drive a final tribute came from Todd Koverman, who made his first lifetime donation. Todd was 12 years old when he was diagnosed with leukemia. His classmates shaved their heads to support him as he went through chemotherapy, and Irene adopted him as the spokesperson for the county-wide “Battle of the Badges” blood drives. “Because of all this he always had a soft spot for mom, and mom always had a soft spot for him,” said Diane. “I was under the impression that I couldn’t donate,” said Todd. “I give Diane the credit. She said to try and see. I’m glad she did.”

Todd Donating Blood

For Todd, it was a 28-year journey from recipient to donor in honor of Irene. “I had been diagnosed for maybe about a year and I was receiving a lot of blood at that time,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing stuff. You wouldn’t believe the energy it gives you. I remember I got two pints that day and I felt like I could run a mile – it made such a difference! “I’ve always wanted to give back but didn’t know it was possible. To give back to someone, it makes you feel good inside. Especially when you’re the one receiving it. You realize how awesome it is.”

Tom flirting with the nurse

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Small Towns - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Small Towns

Congratulations to the Russia Raider baseball team for a well earned state championship on Saturday. What a hitting and pitching performance when it counted the most. Such accomplishments make small towns so special, unifying the community and enhancing school and community spirit. Sure enjoyed listening to their run on Scores Broadcast and reading about the games on Fish Report. Special call out to Coach Denny (aka Cake) Monnin; he’s older than I am!

In addition to Russia, there sure is an amazing assortment of small towns around the area where I grew up on a farm near Ft. Loramie. Back then, many villages had only a few homes, likely a general store, gas station, church and one room school house to serve not only the town folks but also the surrounding farm families. I’ve written past blogs about many of the small towns, like Minster, Russia, Ft. Loramie and Osgood, primarily because I had cousins who live in those communities. But this blog is dedicated to the other small towns that still occupy special places in my memory bank.

First is Newport, just a few miles south of Ft. Loramie. I grew up before the Country Concert put Newport on the map. Louie’s Bar was the highlight, as Louie would serve 3.2 beer to us under-aged high schoolers. And on special occassions, he’d serve us sloe gin, a British liqueur with a redish tint caused from prune juice mixed with gin. Both beverages had low alcohol content so went down smoothly on our young taste buds! We’d periodically attend Sunday mass at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic church in Newport because Ft. Loramie’s long time pastor and a favorite, Fr. Raterman was transferred there for his last assignment prior to his retirement. I vividly recall the creaky seats and flooring in the church. Our family still holds Christmas get-togethers in the church basement to this day.

And right behind Newport’s church was the baseball diamond that featured an upward-sloping terrace in left field like the Reds Crosley Field and a downward sloping right field to a road. In Little League, the games were fun and competitive between Newport and Loramie. At the time, Newport had quite a battery with left handed pitcher Doug Barhorst and slugging catcher John Gephart, both of whom eventually played college ball. I distinctly remember a walk-off homer by Gephart that flew over the road in right field. Back then and maybe still today, those two excellent teams eventually melded together during high school into a very talented team that in our case, won a County championship.

Next is Anna, home of the Rockets, who always were our biggest nemesis on the basketball and baseball fields. Honda hadn’t arrived yet, so the town was somewhat sleepy, but most of the kids I knew actually lived in the thriving metropolis of McCartyville, a super small town between Anna and Minster. Many, many pick-up basketball and baseball games were held there. The highlight each spring was the St. Patricks Day parade. Most of the residents were German, but on that day, they were Irish. And in the summer, the McCartyville Church Picnic, loaded with games and rides, was held. Fun times! Also close to Anna was Kettlersville, which actually has this unusual Facebook page! Somewhere around Anna is a long abandoned town named Ripley that was a haven along the Underground Railroad, a secret network for African-Americans escaping the slave states before and during the Civil War. And it seems there was a town called Buckland north of Anna somewhere as you head towards Wapak. Played some basketball there, but that’s about all I remember.

Between McCartyville and Ft. Loramie sets the really small town of St. Patrick, where my mother’s home place was located. The church pictured above is now gone except for the cemetery where my grandparents and many other relatives are buried. We always held her family reunion at the former school in the town. Above is a reunion photo taken in 1948.

Next comes Egypt, a town west of Minster. Dad would patronize the Massey-Ferguson implement dealer there. That village also has a strange Facebook page highlighted by the above photo of a belly dancer!. Here’s some history of the town: 

In the community's earliest years, travel in the vicinity was extremely difficult due to the muck of the Great Black Swamp. The name "Egypt" was supplied by one of the early pioneers, who is said to have remarked that "this place smells’". Because the people of the community could only attend church in Minster with great difficulty, they made a petition for a church in Egypt; accordingly, St. Joseph's Catholic Church was organized in 1852.

Yorkshire, west of Ft. Loramie, population 96, was a fun town, mostly due to the Goat Farmers softball team that we played regularly; always highlighted by lots of beer afterwards furnished by the local tavern called the E&R Pub if I recall. The Goat Farmers are now just members of a “social club”; softball’s history, but amazingly they do have over 2000 followers!

Heading west from Yorkshire is the town of North Star, population 236. My claim to fame in North Star was as a passenger in a car driven by a friend Ed from Anna that hit a parked car and peeled the fender like a sardine can. I hit my head on the windshield, cracking it, but never had a bump on the head for some reason - hard headed I guess. And nearby is Willowdell, sharpshooter Annie Oakley's hometown. And also nearby is Burkettsville, home of my uncle and aunt who ran the general store in town. My uncle got a job at Corning in Greenville, so closed the store in the early ’60’s. We went to the auction and I recall one of the first items to be auctioned off was a box of assorted shoe polish tins. Mom was the winning bidder at $2. The auctioneer called her the shoe polish lady for the rest of the auction whenever she bid on any other item. She picked up a lifetime supply of shoe polish, as there were still some tins left when we cleared out the family home after she had passed away.

Frenchtown. another nearby small town, was the home of Earl and Bernice Baltes’ Chrystal Ballroom. Here’s an excerpt from the March 6, 2012 Darke County Journal on the venue: 

Do you remember where you were on Saturday evening? If the year was between the late 1940’s to the mid 1970’s chances are it was Crystal Ball. Frenchtown was the crossroads of the Midwest and from Glen Miller, to Guy Lombardo, Louis Armstrong, to the Dorsey Orchestra, and so many others came to play at the famous Crystal Ballroom. But later it was the Baltes Orchestra or the Bumble Bees who wowed the crowds. The fun and music were hometown as were the friendships (and courtships). The Bumble Bees always closed with their trademark song entitled “Green Onions". 

Nearby Eldora Speedway was and continues to be a fan favorite. Also really loved Bar E. Here’s a past blog about those times.

That’s it for now, but count on more small town memories next week.

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1957 - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

1957

A friend recently sent me an email with a nostalgic look back at the year 1957 that included some great photographs of cars and their surroundings back then. Check them out along with his recollections for your viewing and reading enjoyment.

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