LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: loveland tigers

  • Join us in Celebrating the Cincinnati Bengals by Showing us Your Stripes!

    Join us in Celebrating the Cincinnati Bengals by Showing us Your Stripes!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Are you ready to see the Cincinnati Bengals make Superbowl history? Our beloved city sure knows how to celebrate a Bengals victory, so we thought what better way to prepare for the Superbowl than for YOU to “Show Us Your Stripes!”

    The Bengals will challenge the Los Angeles Rams for the Superbowl LVI title at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Sunday, February 13th at 6:30 p.m. 

    The Cincinnati Bengals have their eyes set on the Superbowl title for the first time since 1988 when they took on the San Francisco 49ers and lost 20-16. The Bengals have still yet to win a Superbowl but are confident that this year will be a great opportunity to win it for the first time in franchise history. 

    After the Bengals legendary AFC Championship win last Sunday, we knew that we wanted to celebrate and show our support for Cincinnati with the community leading up to the Superbowl. What better way to get our readers excited for the game than to showcase the city in their finest Bengals attire! We want YOU to “Show Us Your Stripes!” 

    From now until the day after the Superbowl we will be accepting photos of Bengals fans everywhere dressed in their Bengals gear! Photo entries can display where you have celebrated Bengals victories this year including decorations or can be as simple as a photo of you, your friends, and family cheering the Bengals on to victory. We especially want to see your black and orange decor if you have hosted a Bengals party or went somewhere to watch the game that had great decorations. You may also send in any “dressed for Bengals success” pet photos! The sky is the limit with any photos you decide to send in as we want to see some creativity and some Tiger style! If you are a business owner and you decorated your storefront or had your employees dress up in Bengals gear, we would love to see those photos as well! 

    Once we start receiving photo entries we will publish a couple of photos per day on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for all of the community to enjoy! The following week after the Superbowl we will publish a photo album that will include all of the photo entries we received including photos taken on Superbowl Sunday. All photo entries should be emailed to Cassie Mattia and should include the following details:

    • The names of everyone in the photo including where they are from.
    • Where and when the photo was taken.
    • How long you have been a Bengals fan.
    • Any favorite local spots that you enjoy watching Bengals games…even if it is at home!

    We will be taking photo entries until Monday, February 14th.

    • Loveland Magazine Co-Owner and local Katie Moertle celebrating the Bengals at Eli Sports Bar & Grill!
    • Loveland Magazine Co-Owner Cassie Mattia’s dog Dean dressed up as a Tiger for the Bengals game!
    • Brody Bussa, an 8-year-old 3rd gen. Bengals fan from Milford, Ohio! Brody is dressed for “Joe BRRRRR-ow Day!””
    • Parker Mayhall, an 8-year-old Boyd E Smith Elementary School student ready for “Joe Burrow Day!” Parker is sporting his faux JB9 Chain but hopes to own a real one someday!
    • Archie Ungerbuehler, an 8-year-old die hard Joe Burrow fan from Milford, Ohio sporting his Bengals gear on “Joe Burrow Day” at McCormick Elementary!

    We are so excited to feature the Bengals’ support throughout the community and can’t wait to see some incredible WHO DEY photos! Stay tuned to our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to see the first round of “Show Us Your Stripes” photos!

    Curious as to where you can watch Superbowl LVI? The game will be broadcasted on NBC as well as streamed on Peacock, the NBC Sports app, and NBC Sports.com.

    For your latest local sports updates stay tuned to the Loveland Salad With ME, Cassie Mattia!

  • Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 30, 2022

    Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 30, 2022

    Loveland, Ohio – At the beginning of each week, the Loveland City School District releases their latest Covid 19 Dashboard.

    Starting Monday masks optional for all students and no more contact tracing in Loveland City School District

     
     
     
     

    Note the correction to the 10/3/ report and that community cases increased from 51 to 62.

     
     

     

     
  • Poll ‘Should Loveland Schools declare a “Mon’Dey Hangover Holiday” after Super Bowl Sun’Dey?

    Poll ‘Should Loveland Schools declare a “Mon’Dey Hangover Holiday” after Super Bowl Sun’Dey?

    [poll id=”15″]

  • Todd Jordon family didn’t get the break we prayed for – Now you can help

    Todd Jordon family didn’t get the break we prayed for – Now you can help

    Paula and Todd Jordan toasting their 16th anniversary in 2019

    Loveland, Ohio – The “GoFundMe” page to help this Tiger family begins:

    “Hello Loveland family and friends, we have a Tiger family in need after the heartbreaking passing of Todd Jordon.”

    It continues…

    Beloved husband, father, son, uncle, friend, neighbor, and life-long resident of our beautiful Loveland, unfortunately, and shockingly passed away on January 20th, 2022. He was 52.

    A little bit about Todd, he was a devoted family man. He was a great husband to his wife Paula, who he loved dearly. He unconditionally loved and was ridiculously proud of his two kiddos, Isabella and Sebastian. He was devoted to his father, Ron Jordan, and checked on him daily. He was especially attentive after the loss of his mother he adored, Beth Jordan, a few years ago. He was an attentive and caring Uncle to many nieces and nephews. And he was true to his friends. He was a sincere, kind-hearted man. When he asked how you were doing, he genuinely listened and cared about your response. And he gave the best hugs. He was quirky, fun, sometimes slightly ridiculous, and most definitely stubborn. He dreamed of Montana often as he loved the beauty of the state. And he had planned on taking his daughter, Isabella, there soon to get her situated with a summer job. 

    After a picture-perfect family Christmas, Todd fell ill. The whole family did. Victims of this awful pandemic time. But while everyone else got better, Todd got worse and worse. Todd had bladder cancer last year which made his fight with Covid a difficult one. After being hospitalized he, sadly, succumbed to his illness in the early evening of January 20 with family by his side. He passed peacefully. 

    Todd had been laid off from his job due to Covid and downsizing of his department a couple of months before the Holidays putting a strain on the family’s finances which makes this even more difficult. He had no life or health insurance. His wife Paula, unfortunately, has been in a series of accidents that limits her ability to work consistently.

    Any help that can be provided to assist the family with celebrating his life and helping with the financial difficulties of losing a husband and father will be greatly appreciated.

    Read more about Todd and his surviving family at GoFundMe.

  • Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 23, 2022

    Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 23, 2022

    Loveland, Ohio – At the beginning of each week, the Loveland City School District releases their latest Covid 19 Dashboard.

     
     
     
     

    Note the correction to the 10/3/ report and that community cases increased from 51 to 62.

     
     

     

     
  • What’s in Loveland’s DNA Featuring Darnell Parker!

    What’s in Loveland’s DNA Featuring Darnell Parker!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – “This community needs a win, and I have to deliver it to them,” Loveland High School’s Women’s Basketball Coach Darnell Parker said with his legendary smile. Parker has certainly become a big part of the Loveland community spreading positivity among his student-athletes and the cancer community. There’s no question that Coach Parker is a part of “What’s in Loveland’s DNA!”

    Parker, who was born and raised in Findlay, Ohio, grew up knowing that he “would have to work twice as hard as everyone else” to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish in life.

    “My dad always told me that growing up and that always stuck with me. Seeing my mom and dad work so hard so that I would never go without ingrained in me a work ethic like no other,” Parker said when speaking about what he had gained from his parents growing up.

    Parker, a born and bred athlete, started participating in sports at a very young age and almost instantly fell in love with the game of basketball.

    “My dad was a fantastic athlete even getting an opportunity to be drafted by the Atlanta Falcons,” Parker said when asked about where his love for sports came from. Parker’s dad competed in football and baseball at Purcell Marian and then eventually moved on to play football at Defiance College, unfortunately succumbing to a leg injury that stopped him from moving forward in the professional sports world.

    Parker pursued his collegiate basketball career at Bluffton College where he also obtained his degree in Business Management Administration. Post-college Parker took his coaching talents to West Clermont where he coached 6th-grade boys basketball for 9 years before making his move to Loveland.

    Once Parker made the move to Loveland he eventually landed the LHS Women’s Basketball Head Coach position, and that’s when he began making history!

    “I really couldn’t have chosen a better community to live in and coach in,” Parker said after reminiscing on his successful coaching career at LHS. Parker is definitely going down in history as one of the most successful LHS Women’s Basketball coaches of all time, grabbing the Eastern Cincinnati Conference Coach of the Year twice, leading the Tigers to 2 of the best seasons in school history, and coaching some very successful women collegiate athletes who have all broken school records at one point or another!

    Unfortunately in October of 2020 shortly after Parker lost his father to COVID-19 complications, Parker received the news that he was diagnosed with both Liver and Colin Cancer.

    “Telling my kids and my players that I had cancer was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” Parker said, “We cried it out and hugged it out and my girls really dedicated that season to me. They rallied around me.”

    Fast forward now to 2022, Parker is now in chemotherapy and says he’s feeling good and that through all of this he has made the choice to make his journey one where he can encourage and help others going through cancer. “I thought to myself well I can either go into a shell and take it on myself or stay positive and share the experience with everyone and give those that need it support.”

    Parker who has 2 daughters and just got married last year, says his future is looking bright and that he can’t wait to get back out on the LHS basketball court, which he says he will be transitioning into next week but will only be coaching home games.

    After knowing Coach Parker myself for nearly 3 years I thought the start of 2022 would be the perfect opportunity to feature Coach in our “What’s in Loveland’s DNA” segment because no one can really deny the effect he has had on the Loveland and LHS community. I am pleased to present to you Coach Darnell Parker in a Loveland Magazine TV production of “What’s in Loveland’s DNA!” Click below to watch the full-length interview!

    Here are some still photos from my interview with Coach Parker by David Miller:

    Want to read more about Coach Darnell Parker? Check out Loveland Magazine’s past stories!

    Loveland High School Basketball Programs Look to Change School History!
    LHS’s Head Women’s Basketball Coach Reaches 100 Wins!
    L.H.S’s Coach Parker Gives Sneak Preview of 2020-2021 Season!
    A Tribute to Coach Darnell Parker and his Loving Tigers
    LHS’s Coach Parker is Stronger Than Ever…and so are his Tigers!
    “Eat Out to Help Out” Loveland’s Coach Darnell Parker!
    Community Rally’s Around LHS’s Coach Parker at Opening Night of “Rolling Mondays!”
    “Rolling Mondays” Part 2 was a Success too!
    Hug Coach Parker before his cancer surgery
    [Video] Hugs for Coach Parker Night at Loveland High School

    For more heartfelt stories stay tuned to “What’s in Loveland’s DNA” With ME, Cassie Mattia!

  • “We aren’t talking  bananas!”

    “We aren’t talking  bananas!”

    Oh that Apex Sock Monkey is at it again.

    He so likes to make DORA cup deliveries to the bars, bistros, carry-outs, and restaurants in Loveland’s downtown historic district.

    Give Apex a call when your needs arise for the latest fashions in casual sportswear, team uniforms, and a world full of cool advertising and promotional items.

    Apex Specialties, your local supplier for over 30 years. Be sure to mention our Sock Monkey and receive a special bonus on your order. And we aren’t talking bananas either.

  • Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 16, 2022

    Loveland Schools Covid-19 Dashboard for January 16, 2022

    Loveland, Ohio – At the beginning of each week, the Loveland City School District releases their latest Covid 19 Dashboard.

    This newest report, issued yesterday, covers the 3 days schools were open last week; January 10, 11, and 12.

     
     
     
     

    Note the correction to the 10/3/ report and that community cases increased from 51 to 62.

     
     

     

     
  • Loveland students in prestigious OMEA “Honor Band Festival”

    Loveland students in prestigious OMEA “Honor Band Festival”

    Galop (Arthur Bird arr. James Syler

    San Antonio Dances (Frank Ticheli)

    Dusk (Steven Bryant)

    Metroplex (Robert Sheldon)

    by David Miller

    Princeton High School hosted the annual Ohio Music Education Association District XIV Honor Bands Festival on January 9. After auditioning, students from area schools were selected to perform in the prestigious OMEA concert. There was a High School Honor Band performance, a High School Honor Symphony Band concert, as well as performances by 7th and 8th-grade Honor Bands.

    Students from Cincinnati’s most prestigious schools were represented:

    Anderson, Goshen, Indian Hill, Loveland, Mariemont, Milford, Moeller, Mount Notre Dame, Oak Hills, Princeton, Reading Community School, Reading, SCPA, St. Xavier, Sycamore, Turpin, Walnut Hills, West Clermont, Wyoming, Colerain, and Summit Country Day.

    The audio above is the concert given by the High School Symphony Honor Band. Several Loveland High School students were selected to be in this band:

    Alton French – Bassoon

    Kirsten Arill – Clarinet

    Lizzy Lip – Trumpet

    Aaron Spjut – Trumpet

    Olivia Smith – Trombone

    Jake Simon – Tuba

    Allison Oh – Percussion

    Jonathan Kaseff – Percussion

    Dr. Brandon Jones was the guest conductor. Jones is a Professor of Music, Coordinator of Instrumental Music, and Music Department Chairperson at Wittenberg University, where he conducts their Symphonic Band.

    Several other Loveland School District students performed during the full afternoon of concerts.

    High School Concert Honor Band

    Shay Thomson, Zack Peebles, Amelia Macura, Sydney Whitlock, and Ellie Brinkman.

    7th Grade Honor Band

    Katie Oaks, Eleanor Dennedy, James Young, John Paul Galles, and Victoria Elliot.

    8th Grade Honor Band

    Caitlyn Ferrer, Payton Brown, and Luke Slater.

  • OHSAA Adds Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Volleyball to Ohio’s High School’s Sports!

    OHSAA Adds Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Volleyball to Ohio’s High School’s Sports!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Times are a-changing in the sports world! History was made in Columbus last Thursday when the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Board of Directors voted to add Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Volleyball officially as “emerging sports” in the 2022-2023 school year. 

    “The OHSAA recognizing men’s volleyball is a huge win for the sport and for everyone that has worked so hard to get the boys game recognized on the big stage in Ohio,” former Loveland High School JV “A” Team Head Coach Matthew Ellis said, “There are a lot of people who have coached boys club and boys high school that deserve a ton of praise for getting the ball rolling on this. Volleyball is a game for everyone and this is a big step in showing that.”

    Loveland Athletic Director Brian Conatser told Loveland Magazine on Friday, “That’s great. Obviously, we’ve had a very successful men’s volleyball program here at Loveland. We’re excited. What a great opportunity. I know that Head Coach Terri Swensen is super excited.”

    Men’s volleyball is not currently an Eastern Cincinnati Conference sport according to Conatser. He said that the Conference will have to vote on it. “I’ll be the first one to bring it up,” added Conatser laughing.

    The OHSAA Wrestling Coaches Association has held a Women’s wrestling tournament since 2020 and the OHSAA Men’s Volleyball Association has held its tournament since 1998 according to the OHSAA press release that was sent out on Thursday.

    Terri Swensen current Men’s Volleyball Head Coach (Loveland Magazine 2018 File Photo)

    “The OHSAA has been talking with the boy’s volleyball and girls wrestling leaders for several years and we are now in the position to bring these two sports into the OHSAA,” said OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute, “This move will help those sports continue to grow and allow those student-athletes to compete for an OHSAA state championship. It gives more kids opportunities and that is the mission of the OHSAA. We will look to keep a very similar format for the girls wrestling and boys volleyball tournaments as what the coaches associations have been doing,” Ute added, “The girls wrestling state tournament is held in mid-February and the boy’s volleyball state tournament is held in the spring. We have not yet developed tournament regulations, but we’ll start working on that so that those two sports hit the ground running next fall for the start of the 2022-23 school year.”

    Conatser said that Loveland has not had any female wrestlers in the past and that the sport is currently configured where females compete in whatever weight classification, Varsity or JV, they fit into with the current traditional high school’s program. Conatser said, “It’s actually co-ed now in Ohio. At Loveland, we’ve had some interested females in the past but none competed. I’m sure now that it is an OHSAA sport we will probably, and hopefully, we will see some females that will want to come out and participate.”

    Conatser said it will take some time to figure out how Loveland will handle coaching positions, etc. He said he assumed that females competing against males will continue until a transition to female-specific teams is organized. Currently, OHSAA has separate State tournaments for Women’s and Men’s wrestling competitions.

    OHSAA sports, with the new additions, officially has grown to 28, distributed evenly between men and women.

    OHSAA also announced on Thursday that they have plans to discuss providing an Esports tournament because gaming has grown exponentially in schools across the country over the last few years. OHSAA is actively looking to partner with a group that specializes in Esports.

    Here at Loveland Magazine, we are overjoyed to hear the news about the addition of Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Volleyball to the OHSAA organization! Congratulations to all those who officially get to now compete within their high schools in these 2 new emerging OHSAA sports! We can’t wait to see our Loveland Tiger Women’s Wrestling and Men’s Volleyball teams compete in 2022-2023!

    For the latest updates on local sports news stay tuned to the Loveland Salad With ME, Cassie Mattia!