Amherst News-Times, 1997-06-18

              Trio of teachers retire — Page 3        Grave space under scrutiny — Pag
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Amherst News-Time
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Wednesday, June 18, 1997
Church
founder
to mark
his 89th
by JOHN DONDERO
News-Times reporter
Reverend Anthony L. Krcps was
pastor of Sl. Joseph's Church from
1967 through 1978. He retired and
moved away but every year one
thing keeps drawing him back: his
birthday party.
"I've had aboul 17 of ihem," the
sprightly octogenarian remarked.
"Next week (June 16) I'm going
back for my 89th."
Krcps enjoys renewing old acquaintances and cites that as another
reason for periodic sojourns to
Amhersl.
When he retired, Krcps moved
permanently into ihe small, cinder
block home outside Medina which
he buill in 1950.
He and two classmates at Sl.
Mary's Seminary in Cleveland
bought 11 acres of land on what is
now Hamlin Road. Then each set
about constructing his individual
vacation retreat. The surroundings
were undulating foothills, pristine
woodlands and verdant fields.
They were assisted in their efforts
by students from Cleveland St. Michael's High School. Since he was a
popular curate, there was never a
dearth of industrious teens eager to
exchange iheir labor for some summertime outside the city.
"Across that road," he stood and
pointed out the front window, "Wc
used to see pheasant and wild
turkey. Back where the golf course
is (Pleasant Valley), there were always lots of deer."
Now, across the road from this
humble, frugally decorated cottage,
there are expensive estates, each set
back nearly 300 feet from the road.
The woods he and his fellows salvaged still offer some privacy from
the vehicles that drive by: a curtain
of pine, maple and oak. Little else
has remained unscathed.
Father Kreps came to St. Joseph's
parish when the land held only an
overcrowded school house and an
auditorium lhat could accomodate
500 worshipers for services. Il was a
parish lhat needed a church but he
remembered that some parishioners
preferred expanding ihc school.
"We had class rooms everywhere," Kreps recalled. "In the
basement of the buildings, in reconvened offices..." he trailed off. "But
the bishop said, 'You are lo build a
church' and that's what I set out lo
do."
He amended his comment immediately, adding, "Il was ihe people
who buill it. Really, they were
wonderful."
Obviously they thought he was
wonderful also because 30 years af-
'ter he turned the first shovel of dirt,
he is still honored around his June
13 birthday, every year.
The hosts and hostesses for the
bash arc ihc Catholic Golden Agers,
Chapter 8, of Si. Joseph's. The
group holds its meetings on the third
Monday of every month but August.
"We have a theme for each meeting," Mary Kmicciak said. "In June
we celebrate Father Kreps' birthday
wilh cake and refreshments. He
comes to our meetings every
month," the club officer continued.
"He makes the drive from Medina
lo be here."
"That's all true," Kreps said, "but
they also acknowledge the wedding
anniversaries and birthdays of all
ihe others present as well."
Krcps has kepi his odometer
humming since leaving St. Joseph's.
He assisted at churches in both Medina and Lorain counties on an as-
needed basis.
"I've helped Father Reymann
(James of Wellington Sl Patrick's)
at daily masses," ihe energetic cleric
stated. "I've also helped however I
can in Hinckley and Medina."
Reverend Kreps is a Cleveland
native and all of his schooling and
most of his early assignments have
CONTINUED on page 2
Amherst, Ohio
More fun than
a day at the beach
The younger set
wasted no time in taking advantage of
school letting out last
week as they flocked
to the Maude Neiding
Pool in search of relief
from muggy weather.
Here, a couple of aspiring athletes practice
their best pre-Olympic
lorm for the freestyle
cannonball event.
Need a condo? Buy a raffle ticket!
Unique promotion to help group build good ball fields
by BILL ROSS
News-Times reporter
Summer is synonymous wilh
baseball, and local people take their
baseball seriously — especially
where kids are concerned.
So much so, that a group of Amhersl business and community leaders have joined forces to create the
new Amherst Children's Baseball
Foundation (ACBF), whose purpose
is to raise more money lo improve
and increase the city's baseball
facilities.
Bob Perritt, David Moore and Jon
Barnes have led the formation of the
non-profit organization and plan on
aggressively seeking raising funds
lo serve the city's 1,200 baseball
players — including securing corporate donations and sponsorships,
folding a major raffle and bringing
on more volunteers.
"We plan on involving as many
business and local leaders as we can
and offer fundraising ideas lhat help
us  reach  our  economic   goals
Craig Pavlich, owner of Krew Kut Landscaping and Garden Center seals a deal with ACBF president Bob Perritt help the new organization develop more baseball fields for Amherst's youth.
quickly," said Perritt, who is president of ACBF.
Craig Pavlich, owner of Krew
Kut Landscaping and Garden Center
is one example of business owners
and individuals who have already
lent support lo the new organization.
Pavlich recently pledged $1,500 lo
help get things off to a good start,
Perritt said.
He added thai negotiations and
planning are currently underway for
the acquisition of land suitable for
baseball facilities, and ACBF will
be announcing further details later
this month.
The "House of Fame" raffle
kicked off last Friday at The Villas
at Whispering Winds on Dean Road
in Birmingham. A $228,000 condominium is being offered for raffle
by Birmingham developer and Amhersl businessman. Dale
Spiegelberg.
Moore is hoping ACBF will sell
4,500 raffle tickets at $125 each,
which will go a long way toward financing the group's long and short
term projects.
The first place winner will have
the option of the condominium or
$180,000 in cash. If not enough
tickets are sold to finance the purchase of the condo, the raffle will revert to a 50/50 drawing of the money taken in, less expenses. All proceeds will go to funding projects.
Additionally, there will be an
Early Bird drawing on July 5 for
those who purchase raffle tickets
prior to that date. The winner of lhat
drawing will receive a trip for four
to the Bahamas.
CONTINUED on paga 2
o
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...
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Sky; "
falling...
City hall
ceiling is
After a six-fool chunk of ceiling fell from the second floor of
cily hall recently, mayor John
Higgins told members of city
council lhat if renovation does
not begin soon the damage could
become irreversible.
The dowrted portion of ceiling
is the result of roof leakage, and
although an exterior repair (including the roof) is already being planned, the mayor said the
city must also begin work on at
least the basement and the first
floor areas of the historic building before it is loo late.
Large chunks of plaster fell to
the first floor near the time
clock, but fortunately no one
was in the area at the time.
"Somebody really would have
been clocked," treasurer Kathleen Litkovitz noted at the council meeting.
Higgins said that city hall employees will have to move to
other office space available in
the downtown area for the exterior work, and il only makes
sense lhat as much interior work
as possible takes place during
the same period.
"There are asbestos fibers in
the ceiling as well as other
safety issues that will force us to
relocate during the renovation,"
he said.
The price tag for the exterior
renovations will come to aboul
$250,000, according lo the
mayor, and he is still waiting on |
the architect's plans for the
basement and first floor.
Once he gets the final plans,
Higgins said he can go to council and request money for the
project in the form of a loan that
would be paid for mostly from
the general fund, although a
small portion could come from
the utilities fund.
In die meantime, the ceiling
hole will be patched and preventive maintenance will be used to
hopefully stave off future
collapses.
Because of its expense, renovation of the second floor which
used to be a city auditorium, will
have to be put on hold.
Top subs
are hard
to
by GLEN MILLER
News-Times reporter
The 1996-97 school year is over
bui school administrators remain in
a bind thai is likely to gel tighter
than il already is: they can't find
enough substitute teachers.
The 10 to 15 substitute teachers
needed daily are called from a list of
51 subs who can teach kindergarten
through twelfth grade.
Many are retired teachers. Others
are recent college graduates who
have not been able to find a full-
time teaching position. Some become full-time substitutes who work
for Amhersl and several school systems, a choice that often creates a
problem for Amherst.
"We're lucky to have half of
those of the list available when we
needed them, if that. Either they
have work elsewhere that day or
have other plans," administrative assistant Robert Wiersum said.
Some of those on the list choose
the, district offering the best pay, often as high as $83 a day. Amherst
pays $53 daily for the first 15 days
and $63 a day for up to 45 days.
Thereafter, substitutes receive $73 a
day.
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