David Miller is the Editor and Publisher of Loveland Magazine
by David Miller
Tumultuous speculation is spreading as fast as a delta variant through our school district about whether masking and face protection will be required when the school year begins – and we hear nary a peep from school leadership.
School begins in 17 days, and even if one wants to know what the current policy is for protection against catching or spreading COVID 19 and the Delta Variant, one would have to be a genius web-searching sleuth to find it. It’s not to be found on the new and “improved” school website or their social media pages.
It can be discovered, but not easily. And, certainly not through any help provided by District leadership.
So why does the public hear wildly speculative and false information about the current school policy on outside social pages such as Nextdoor or individual Facebook pages, knowing the school leadership also reads the false information, yet lets it stand?
A nervous public, read especially parents, should be shown more respect than the masked self-gagging school leadership is providing. Parents are trying to make plans. Do you have one?
Perhaps the self-censorship is so they can measure public opinion first, with a moistened finger pointed to the wind before re-proclaiming what the current policy is. And, if that is the case they are making decisions not based on science or medical advice but on what way they perceive the political winds are gusting.
That kind of decision-making process is as dangerous to our children as debating your policy standing downwind un-masked from your un-masked vaccine denying uncle inside a school locker.
The public needs a statement from the District immediately of the current policy which should include a narrative of their intentions to stick with it or not.
Currently, there is a Board “Work Session” scheduled for August 10, the week before classes begin, yet no agenda is available for the public to see if the masking policy will even be discussed. If a new policy is announced that night, it’s awfully late.
Seventeen days before mostly unvaccinated children board school buses – the very least a nervous, mostly un-informed, un-masked, and un-vaccinated, public deserves is something, just something.
The Ohio Department of Health released updated recommendations for K-12 schools yesterday. The guidance strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccinations for staff and eligible students; consistent mask-wearing for individuals who are not yet fully vaccinated; and layering prevention measures that include good ventilation, regular cleaning, handwashing, covering coughs, and sneezes, and staying home when sick. The Ohio Department of Health also strongly recommends those who are not fully vaccinated consistently wear masks, which have proven a very effective tool for reducing the spread of the virus.
During a press conference on Monday, July 26, Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Bruce Vanderhoff, MD explained, “While there are no mandates associated with this guidance, we believe that the recommendations we are issuing are essential to the health of Ohio’s youth and the success of the coming school year. The safety of Ohio’s children is paramount, and the preventive measures that schools take will help protect Ohio’s students.”
Skip to the 3:45 minute mark where the press conference begins
COVID-19 vaccines are widely available throughout the state for those 12-years or older. Younger children will be returning to school without being vaccinated. Many providers offer walk-in appointments, or Ohioans can schedule a vaccination appointment at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. Ohioans who want to learn more about the safety, efficacy, and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines should talk to their doctor, nurse, or pharmacist, or visit coronavirus.ohio.gov/vaccine to learn more.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated 6:55 AM 7-29 to reflect that Loveland Schools will return to full in-person learning in August.
Loveland, Ohio – Below is the face covering and mask requirements for the current school year in Loveland schools. This policy was adopted by the Board of Education on June 3, 2021.
There will be no remote learning opportunities for teachers or students as all school buildings will return to full capacity in-person classes in August. The District announced on May 7 that, “Due to a lack of interest from our families, Loveland City School District will not be offering the Remote Academy for the 2021-2022 school year. We look forward to welcoming back all of our students for five-day per week in-person learning in the fall!”
Revised June 3, 2021
8450.01 – USE OF FACE COVERINGS/MASKS
The Loveland Board of Education is committed to providing students, staff, and visitors with a safe and healthy environment.
On May 12, 2021, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine lifted the State’s COVID – 19 mask requirements, including the requirement of face coverings inside public buildings, effective June 2, 2021 Furthermore, he declared that local school districts will make their own determinations on Covid-19 mitigation efforts, including the wearing of masks and/or face shields.
As of the adoption date, June 3, 2021, of this updated policy, unless required by additional mandates, the decision to wear face coverings/masks on school buses, in school buildings, or at other school events, will be left to adult individuals and parents/guardians of K-12 students. The Loveland City Schools will continue to follow COVID-19 mitigation protocols to maintain a healthy environment for students, staff, and visitors and will continue to provide recommendations for personal protection from the spread of infectious diseases.¶
In order to maintain a healthy environment, the Board will follow any mandates set forth by the Ohio Governor, Ohio State Health Department, Hamilton County Health Department, and Ohio Department of Education, (“Directing Entities”) as it relates to protecting the health of students, staff and visitors. When any of these Directing Entities requires staff, students, and visitors to wear face coverings/masks while attending school, reporting to work at a school, or visiting a school, the District’s Administration will follow and enforce such directives.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell. Photo from Ohio Senate website.
Ohio schools will soon be barred from mandating that students be vaccinated against COVID-19. A Republican state lawmaker wants to also prohibit schools from mandating students and others wear face masks.
State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell. (Photo from Ohio Senate website)
Senate Bill 209, introduced by state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, is unlikely to impact school districts’ decisions for the fall, as lawmakers are on break until after most schools return to class. But the bill reflects continued attempts from those in the Ohio General Assembly to block public mitigation efforts of a virus that has killed more than 20,000 Ohioans to date.
SB 209 would prohibit the state school board, the Ohio Department of Education or individual school districts’ boards of education from requiring anyone to wear facial coverings in a public education setting.
K-12 schools and universities would not be able to require masks for students, teachers, staff members or visitors. Masks would not be required for in-class learning, any school athletic event or other school function.
“An individual may choose to wear a facial covering but shall not be required to do so,” the bill states.
Such mandates could still come from outside the education system, as SB 209 notes that health departments retain the authority to take “action to prevent the spread of a communicable or contagious disease.”
A separate provision in SB 209 deals with mask mandates imposed by private businesses. The businesses would be able to require masks, but “shall post notice of the requirement in a conspicuous place.” The notice must “state that an exemption to the requirement exists for individuals that have a documented medical condition that contraindicates the wearing of a facial covering.”
Brenner helped to enact the recent law barring public schools from issuing vaccine mandates — a law that does not go into effect until mid-October.
Shortly before lawmakers recessed for the summer, Brenner added the amendment to an unrelated bill involving education for children with parents in the military.
The Republican supermajorities, which have been critical of public mandates throughout the duration of the pandemic, swiftly approved that bill.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is seen at a coronavirus press conference in 2020. He had pledged to veto bills that discouraged vaccination. Photo courtesy The Ohio Channel.
A year ago, when Ohio districts weighed a return to in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year, Brenner argued such decisions should be made at a local level, not by the state government.
“Why would you not trust your local school boards and superintendents who know their schools districts the best, taking information from state and local health departments to be able to determine whether or not their local school districts should be open?” Brenner asked in June 2020.
The legislature has since taken away local decision-making regarding school vaccine mandates, and under Brenner’s SB 209, the same would be true for mask requirements.
During this past year, I took on the challenge of teaching a remote section of first grade for Loveland Schools. To date, this has been the most difficult work situation that I have faced as a teacher during my twenty-three-year career. I started the school year with 38 first graders. Just that hurdle alone made this an imposing task from the start. I remember thinking to myself, “How will I ever be able to deliver meaningful instruction to that many six and seven-year-olds? How will I establish a relationship with each one of them? What if I let my students down?”
My remote teaching team and I immediately had to dig in and make this work for our students. I quickly figured out how to manage thirty-plus students on Zoom calls during the day and created a daily schedule. I did my best to find helpful answers to parent questions and concerns, even though I often didn’t have the answers because so much of what we were doing was new to us all. As the first few weeks turned into the first month of remote learning, I found my way and admitted to my parents that I may not have all the answers about all the new challenges of this unique school year, but what I do know about is the development of six and seven-year-olds. So I asked for their trust. And the rest, as they say, is history.
After many afternoons and nights of stress and reinventing my practices to meet the needs of the situation, I pulled up my bootstraps and really dug into the school year. I had a job to do and my students deserved and needed my very best. I became the technology and wifi expert at my home, I figured out routines such as bi-weekly supply pick-ups; monthly drive-ups at my home for treats, crafts, and encouragement; and I came up with a working schedule that would not overwhelm our district’s young remote learners – or their parents or caretakers, with whom I recognized the need to partner with more than ever. As the year progressed, I had many students transition back to in-person school and from late winter to the end of the school year, I had eighteen students.
I can say with confidence that my students had a wonderful and meaningful learning experience this school year. My parents, students and I worked hard to create a caring and respectful online learning environment. On any given day on any given zoom call, my students and I could be found laughing and learning and being silly. We knew the names of each other’s pets, siblings, and other family members. We even knew what everyone had for lunch. Simply put, we were a learning community and, by extension, a family.
I invited my families to drive by my home in Loveland every month of this past school year so that we could say “hi” in person. I usually had a small treat for them, and I collected a lot of notes, cards, and flowers through the windows of their cars. Those drive-thrus proved to be one of the highlights of our school year together. A few even left me in tears afterward as I realized how awesome we all had made a difficult situation. To be honest, it was a great relief and extra rewarding to find that we could still have such a strong, supportive, and caring learning community in the midst of a pandemic while doing remote school from home. We celebrated birthdays, holidays, and milestones together such as the 50th and 100th days of school. During the Spring we celebrated being reunited with family members and friends as vaccines became available. And on a daily basis, we celebrated each other’s reading, writing, and goals scored over the weekend at soccer. And of course, lost teeth and new haircuts.
As I look back on our school year, I can safely say that we all had a wonderful school experience. Somewhere in between bad wifi connections and reminding them to “unmute,” all of our wrinkles and rough spots were smoothed over. My hope for my remote students is that when they look back on being a kid many years from now, that some of our memories will be there for them and spark joy. Maybe they will remember our renditions of the Gingerbread Man through reader’s theater. Or maybe the puppet shows put on with their siblings as they retold a story via video. Or maybe it was the simple joy of buddy-reading with a friend in a Zoom breakout room. I know for me, when I look back on this school year, I will remember the faces that greeted me each day with a smile during this pandemic and the trust they had in me all along.
To My Stay at Homies: Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for believing in yourselves. Thank you for always having a smile on your face even when you didn’t want to be on a Zoom Call. Thank you for letting me into your home each day. Thank you for sharing your funny stories and jokes with me. Thank you for finding humor in something each and every day. Thank you for laughing at how silly Frog and Toad were with me. Thank you for always asking how I was doing. Thank you for being my anchor during a tough and sometimes sad time. Thank you for being you.
I love all of you and I can’t wait for more hugs and to see you at LPS in August.
For the final Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing, 3,469,542 vaccinated adults entered for a chance to win $1 million, and 154,889 vaccinated youth entered for a chance to win a college scholarship. This is an increase of 41,028 adult entries and 4,702 youth entries over last week.
Ohio Vax-A-Million’s newest winners joined Governor DeWine Thursday morning to discuss why they chose to be vaccinated and their excitement of being selected during this week’s drawing.
Esperanza Diaz from Cincinnati won the final week’s $1 million prize, and Sydney Daum from Brecksville in Cuyahoga County won the college scholarship prize.
“I got the Pfizer vaccine, and I didn’t have any side effects, I was completely OK,” said Diaz. I would recommend it to everyone. I think it can save a lot of lives.”
“We were always planning to get her vaccinated, but we were going to wait later in the summer to have her fully vaccinated by the time school started,” said Jennifer Daum, Sydney’s mother. “When (Governor DeWine) announced Vax-a-Million we thought this would be a good time to do it now, and we did, and we can’t believe it paid off.”
For week four of Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing, 3,428,514 vaccinated adults entered for a chance to win $1 million, and 150,187 vaccinated youth entered for a chance to win a college scholarship. This is an increase in 66,311 adult entries and 6,583 youth entries over the previous week.
Ohio Vax-A-Million’s newest winners joined Governor DeWine Thursday morning to discuss why they chose to be vaccinated and their excitement of being selected during this week’s drawing.
Suzanne Ward from Findlay in Hancock County won this week’s $1 million prize, and Sean Horning from Cincinnati won this week’s college scholarship prize.
“I did not have any hesitation when my age group came up to get vaccinated,” said Ward. “I would encourage anybody to get vaccinated. I think it’s the smart thing to do from a health perspective.”
“I always knew it was the best for everyone,” said Lina Horning, who is Sean’s mother and experienced having COVID-19. “I encouraged my son to do it for the safety of our community and everyone.”
Week 1:
Abbigail Bugenske, 22, of Silverton.
Joseph Costello, 14, of Englewood, won the college scholarship.
Week 2:
Jonathan Carlyle, of Toledo
Zoie Vincent, of Mayfield Village won the college scholarship.
Week 3:
Mark Cline, of Richwood.
Sheffield Lake 13-year-old Sara Afaneh from Sheffield Lake won the college scholarship.
Week 4:
Suzanne Ward, of Findlay
Sean Horning, of Cincinnati won the college scholarship.
There is one more Ohio Vax-a-Million drawing left and Governor DeWine encouraged all eligible Ohioans to get vaccinated and enter to win. For more information and to enter, visit ohiovaxamillion.com. Ohioans 18 and older who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can enter to win a $1 million prize. Ohioans ages 12-17 who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can enter to win a four-year college scholarship to any Ohio state college or university.
Columbus, Ohio – On Thursday, Governor Mike DeWine announced that the state emergency in Ohio caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will be lifted as of Friday. He urged those who have not yet received the vaccine to find a clinic near them by visiting gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Governor DeWine also released new information regarding visitation to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
On Friday, the state regulations which describe how visits should occur were removed. This will allow residents to have more than two visitors, and there is no longer a scheduling requirement. According to the Governor, Ohio nursing homes are expected to continue to follow federal guidance from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and both nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be expected to follow CDC guidance. A testing requirement still remains for staff members who are unvaccinated, and they will need to continue to be tested twice per week.
The Ohio Department of Aging will be hosting a series of webinars to ensure facilities have access to all the information and resources necessary for safe and healthy operations. More information about these webinars can be found on the department’s website at aging.ohio.gov.
The program covers rental payments that are late and overdue including late fees as well as utility payments, including gas, electric, fuel oil, trash removal, internet service, and water and sewer.
Clermont County, Ohio – Residents who have fallen behind on rent and utility payments due to the pandemic can get financial help.
How does the program work?
The program was designed to assist Clermont County households that are unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible renter households may receive up to 12 months of past-due payment assistance and three months of future rental payments with direct payments made to the landlords and utility providers. Landlords may apply on behalf of the renter with their consent.
Funding expires on Sept. 30, 2022. The program covers rental payments that are late and overdue including late fees as well as utility payments, including gas, electric, fuel oil, trash removal, internet service, and water and sewer.
How is eligibility determined?
• Income eligible, under 80% area median income (Area median income for a family of one is $48,350; family of four is $69,050.)
• Income will be determined through a copy of the 2020 1040 tax form, pay stubs, and/or a self-declaration form.
• Must be COVID-19 related
Can landlords apply on behalf of the renter?
• Yes. If eligible, assistance may be granted for rent and utilities.
• Visit: Clermont County Community Services, 3003 Hospital Drive, Batavia, Ohio 45103
How was this program started?
• The Board of County Commissioners approved a Clermont County Job and Family Services’ contact with Clermont County Community Services to administer the Emergency Rental Assistance Fund. Clermont County received $6.1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for renters through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.
That has overall disease, hospitalization and death numbers plummeting as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine ends covid restrictions on Wednesday.
But the 64% of Ohioans who haven’t begun their vaccinations appear to be in as much danger as they were in the deadly days of February. That’s when nearly 2,000 Ohioans were hospitalized with covid — about three times the 622 who were hospitalized with the disease on Tuesday.
In other words, unvaccinated Ohioans might not be getting the right message from good coronavirus news because it doesn’t seem to apply to them.
Unfortunately, state health officials can’t say for sure.
The Washington Post last week published a state-by-state analysis assuming that vaccinations were at least 85% effective at keeping people out of the hospital with covid. It recalculated covid metrics excluding 85% of vaccinated people and compared resulting rates to what they were for the general population before vaccines were widely available.
Ohio came out in the middle of the pack, which isn’t great. It showed that among the unvaccinated, the state’s daily rate of covid hospitalizations of 40 per 100,000 people is similar to what it was for the population as a whole on Feb. 16.
Most of Ohio’s neighbors have similar hospitalization rates among the unvaccinated. In Indiana, West Virginia and Kentucky it’s 40 per 100,000.
Neighboring Michigan for months has been hammered with a fast-spreading variant and its unvaccinated population is estimated to have 60 hospitalizations per 100,000. Pennsylvania also has an unvaccinated hospitalization rate of 60 per 100,000, the analysis said.
The analysis used conservative assumptions about how effective the vaccines are based on scientific data. Even so, they’re still just estimates.
Tantalizingly, officials with the Ohio Department of Health have data about who’s sick and who’s been vaccinated, but not the technology to match them up.
“Within the disease reporting system (ODRS), there is a notation for whether someone is vaccinated or not,” spokeswoman Megan Smith said in an email. “However, it is not possible to run a report by vaccine status at the state level because of the limitations of the system.”
Meanwhile, state leaders are continuing to try to persuade Ohioans to get vaccinated. They have credited the Vax-a-Million promotion for a 28% vaccination increase during the first two weeks of the promotion among people who could have gotten shots before it was announced.
“Ohio’s Vax-a-Million drawing was designed to bring attention and excitement to vaccination efforts around the state,” ODH Director Stephanie McCloud said in a statement. “This data showing significant increases in vaccination numbers during the two weeks since the contest was announced demonstrates it is working. Vaccines are our best tool to return to the lives we remember from before the pandemic.”
Loveland, Ohio – COVID-OR-NOT, in 2020 when the local Memorial Day ceremonies were cancelled, Loveland Magazine decided to hold one anyway.
I didn’t do too much head-scratching before I remembered Ryan Linday’s Memorial Day address in Loveland in 2017 because it was a very good one – the best one of my recollection. Ryan quickly agreed to record a message and brought Steve Bow to play taps.
I also remembered young Paul Laufersweiler the eighth-grade student from St. Columban School who read a speech at a Veterans Day service in Loveland. I contacted his mom and asked her if Paul would like to record a speech for 2020’s Memorial Day. Almost immediately she responded, “Just tell us where to meet you.”
Below is the story Loveland Magazine published last year on Memorial Day with the speeches by Ryan and Paul and Taps played by Steve.
[2 Videos] We hope you will watch Loveland Magazine’s Memorial Day Service
A Memorial Day observance with speeches
COVID-or-not – it felt imperative to somehow have a Memorial Day Service in Loveland
by David Miller
Monday marks the nation’s most significant holiday, so it should not go without remembrance. For many, it’s quite sobering and you may want to think twice about saying, “Happy Memorial Day” if you want to avoid blank awkward stares.
Traditionally the area has annual gatherings with speeches given on the stage of the Loveland Veterans’ Memorial or at the monument at Veterans’ Memorial Plaza in Home of the Brave Park, however because of COVID 19 and an Ohio ban of large gatherings the annual Memorial Day ceremonies were canceled this year. Before the Loveland Memorial was built in the West Loveland Historic District the event was held on the lawn in front of the Loveland Elementary School.
Given the National Holiday’s significance, because without the ultimate, life-giving sacrifice of young men and women there would be no other holidays celebrated in this country, including Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, or Labor Day, it felt imperative to somehow have a Memorial Day observance non-the-less, COVID-or-not.
I didn’t do too much head-scratching before I remembered Ryan Linday’s Memorial Day address in 2017 because it was a very good one – the best one of my recollection. Ryan is a “third-generation Veteran” and his uncle died in Vietnam. Ryan quickly agreed to record a message and brought Steve Bow to play taps.
I also remembered young Paul Laufersweiler the eighth-grade student from St. Columban School who read a speech at last November’s Veterans Day service in Loveland, The service is put on by students who walk from their school to the Veterans’ Memorial each fall to lay wreaths and honor current and past veterans. So, I contacted his mom Stephanie who I also met that day and asked her if Paul would like to record a speech for this year’s Memorial Day. Almost immediately she responded, “Just tell us where to meet you.”
Much of the morning that Ryan, Steve, and I spent while at the Chapel at Union Cemetery in Symmes Township centered around a conversation about how many more Veterans in recent years have died by suicide than in battlefield combat. Truthfully, it was Steve and Ryan doing the lamenting with me just listening. They remembered those lives with sobriety and respect for their pain and suffering, their endless dark days, and the families in these recent years who lost their Veteran but never received a Gold Star to put in the home’s window.
To those numerous families in Loveland I want you to know that the loss of these young souls and your pain was memorialized with quiet somber reflection at our three-person Memorial Day service at the cemetery yesterday.
Monday, Ryan and Steve will visit other local cemeteries and return to Union Cemetery to lay wreaths and Steve will play Taps to honor the greatest of our community’s heroes – including yours.
When I was with Paul and his mom on Friday to record Paul’s speech we didn’t chat about such somber subjects – I don’t have those things in common with the young man. Our conversation was about Paul’s promising future and his dreams. I believe we all have a responsibility to Paul to turn them into reality. Thank you Paul for recognizing at such a young age who it was that came before you who allows the possibility of your aspirations.
Let’s make a mission statement after hearing Paul’s last sentence of his speech – to make it so for him and all of our children. To make is so for all the Gold Star Families and those who did not receive the Gold Star but deserve it as much as anyone.
We really must make Paul a promise that we will make this country and community live up to the promise now laid at our feet, by so many lost lives who held the same dreams and potential as he has.
This photo was taken when Paul read a speech last November on Veterans Day
Meet Paul Laufersweiler
Paul just graduated from eighth grade at St. Columban school and will be attending Loveland High School in the Fall. He has already successfully auditioned to be in the marching and symphonic bands. He has two sisters, Emily still attending St. Columban as a sixth-grader and Amy who will be a junior at LHS who is in the Show Choir.
Paul said he is interested in studying science, however, he is also really interested in learning more about communicating so he might be taking those courses as well.
“When I was really little I wanted to be a pizza pilot where I would fly around in a plane and drop down pizzas to people.” I asked him if he would throw them like frisbees and he said, “Yes, I’ll get a thin crust, real crispy, so they won’t flop around.”
Paul was the student council President at St. Columban this year. Annually they raise money for school supplies for St. Julie School in Uganda, but because of COVID 19 they were not able to complete all of their fundraising activities. At the urging of his little sister Emily, they decided the canceled Walk-A-Thon should still take place, but by the students walking in their own neighborhoods. This photo (right) provided by his mom is Paul opening donations and notes from St. Columban families who contributed to the “Virtual” Walk-A-Thon. In the end, they raised $1,000.
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Meet Ryan Lindsay
Ryan is a lifelong Loveland resident and 1994 Graduate of LSH. He enlisted the Army right out os high school and served until 1998. Since, he has been a self-described “civilian-slave for the system.” Ryan told me, “Im proud to be a resident and citizen of the City.” For the past 15 years he has been an office manager for a heating and cooling company.
When I asked Ryan what he plans on doing with the rest of his life he said, ”Work, and then do lots of fun things when we are again allowed to do them. I go to Indy car races, sport car races, and concerts.”
I asked him if he ever raced and he said laughing, “No, that’s a rich man’s sport and I want to keep my money for when I retire. I know I would like it so much but I know how much it costs so I would probably bankrupt myself. It’s funner to watch somebody else spend that money so I’d rather watch ‘em do it. do it and that way if there’s a wreck I won’t have a bill to pay or anything like that.” He said he would probably try out a “Driving School” in a professional setting just to try it out to see how his skills stack up. “I would love to race cars, but then you see the price tag.”
He did race bicycles from the late nineties until 2012. “I kinda got too old and too busy with work to keep doing that. I did travel all over the country and would still like to do it but there isn’t enough time now to train and keep fit.”
Ryan will spend his Memorial Day with other veterans making their annual pilgrimage to local cemeteries, praying, and laying wreaths.
Meet Steve Bow
Steve has lived in Loveland since 2012 and has played the trumpet for 41 years. He is a technical specialist with a German company and works from home doing quality control and business and sales development. He does travel to South Carolina and Tennessee to consult with large companies such as Volvo and Volkswagen about quality and technical problems.
Steve was born in 1967 and grew up in Texas. His dad was an engineer for Dow Chemical for “the better part of 40 years.” The family moved to Columbus in 1980. He graduated from Ohio State in 1990 with a degree in metallurgical engineering and he’s been in the steel industry for a little going on 21 years. Steve’s father, Kenneth E. Bow, is a retired Army, Lt Col.
“I consider myself an Ohioan because I was in seventh grade when I first lived here,” Steve said. He attended OSU for five years and was in the marching band for four playing trumpet and in the “S Row” on the field.
Steve is the Assistant State Director, SW/NW Ohio District of Bugles Across America, an all-volunteer Taps organization. Bugles Across America (BAA) offers live/real bugle/trumpet players to sound Taps at Veterans funerals and events so the electronic device can be avoided. Steve has sounded Taps for around 300 “Missions” despite having a full-time job.
Recently, Steve has sounded Taps in Normandy in 2015, Arlington National Cemetery in 2013 and 2016, the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA, and various other Veterans events, including participating in a Full Honors funeral with the US Army and last year he played at Dayton National Cemetery.
In 2018, Steve and his daughter Claudia, a Music Ed major at NKU, sounded echo taps at the Normandy American Cemetery. They have also sounded Taps on Omaha Beach.
Steve said, “In addition to my full-time job and the BAA, I also own an art business on the side where I paint Military aircraft nose art from WW2 and aircraft insignia art on aluminum panels to replicate the originals.” He has shipped his artwork to clients around the world. “I also do leather jackets and I have been painting since 2012. My company is STB Aviation Art LLC.”
Steve will spend his Memorial Day with other veterans making their annual pilgrimage to local cemeteries, praying, and laying wreaths, and of course Steve will sound Taps.
“When I was really little I wanted to be a pizza pilot where I would fly around in a plane and drop down pizzas to people.” I asked him if he would throw them like frisbees and he said, “Yes, I’ll get a thin crust, real crispy, so they won’t flop around.”
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