Loveland Magazine

LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: Lynn Oury

  • Miss Lynn the 2025 Valentine Lady gave us a wooden heart

    Miss Lynn the 2025 Valentine Lady gave us a wooden heart

    A crayon drawing of Lynn Oury the 2025 Loveland Valentine Lady by 1-grader Evelyn

    _________

    Jennifer Miller has taught in the Loveland Schools for 27-years.

    by Jennifer Miller

    Loveland, Ohio – Lynn Oury, The 2025 Loveland Valentine Lady, visited my 1st-grade classroom on February 27th. The Valentine Lady visit is always exciting and something that my students look forward to. My students love meeting someone from their Loveland Community and why Valentine’s Day is so special in Loveland. This year proved no different and perhaps was a little more anticipated as Lynn is also known as Miss Lynn, the preschool teacher!

    I have known Lynn for about twenty years. I have known her as a beloved colleague and as a mom when my own daughter had her for two years in preschool almost seventeen years ago. To say that I was excited about this year’s Valentine Lady was an understatement. I knew Lynn’s visit to my classroom would be an experience that my students wouldn’t forget and I was right. 

    Miss Lynn came to our classroom that morning dressed the part in a cheery Valentine sweater and she also had some props. She talked

    The wooden heart that Miss Lynn gave us now hangs in my classroom. It was made by Lynn’s husband Neal.

    about Loveland, friendships and caring for one another. She captured our attention as she retold a chapter from Frog and Toad are Friends. She taught us some sign language as she told the story and also used several buttons as props as she retold the endearing story of Toad looking for his button with Frog. 

    She ended her time with us by presenting us with a wooden heart ornament that her husband had made for us. It now hangs in our classroom as a reminder to be kind to one another. She stamped a special Valentine for each of us to either keep or to give to someone special.

    Miss Lynn with two of her former students, Oliver and Hunter.

    We said our goodbyes and took a few photos with Miss Lynn before she was on her way to another classroom. Hunter and Oliver had a special picture taken with her as they were members of her last preschool school class before she retired. 

    At the time of Lynn’s visit, my students were learning to write a report. We spent the next few weeks writing about The Valentine’s Lady visit to our classroom. We collected our information, made a plan for our writing and then wrote our reports. Below is our collective report.

    Miss Lynn returned to our classroom on April 11th. We surprised her with our reports and this story. She got to click the Loveland Magazine “Publish” button!

    Below are pictures of our time together and our favorite pages from our reports.

    Click to view and enlarge slide show…

    Photos by David Miller/Loveland Magazine ©2024

     

  • Meet the 2025 Loveland Valentine Lady Lynn Oury

    Meet the 2025 Loveland Valentine Lady Lynn Oury

    Lynn Oury and preschooler Olivia Smith in 2008 (Photo provided by Jen Miller)

    “That pic of Olivia and Lynn. That’s what a lasting legacy looks like. Her time spent with so many young children through her teaching life. So sweet. So pure.”

    – Jennifer Miller, Olivia’s mother.

    Loveland, Ohio – The 2025 Loveland Valentine Lady started her journey in Genoa, a small rural town in northwest Ohio. Lynn Oury said that it is very much like Loveland. However, Lynn emphatically adds, “I am home! Loveland truly has that ‘rural-ness’ that very much reminds me of my hometown. And it keeps getting better.”

    She met her husband Neal through college friends who grew up in Loveland and they were married in 1983. Lynn got her undergraduate degree from Morehead State University and her masters degree at Xavier University.

    “Those are my grandparents on my dad’s side; grandma was 1st generation American, from Poland. I am the one in the back making the peace sign.” (Photo provided by Lynn Oury)

    Lynn has a son Nick, who is 40, and a daughter Catherine, is who is 37. Lynn and Neal live in a house that Neal built in the Clermont side of the city.

    Lynn Oury at her home built by husband Neal in the Clermont County side of Loveland. (Photo provided by Lynn Oury)

    Lynn taught school for 36 years; 22 years in Loveland. While in the Loveland Schools, she was a preschool intervention specialist at the Loveland Early Childhood Center (LECC) and retired in June 2022. This year Lynn started to substitute teach at LECC; getting her “teaching fix” and visiting with her teacher and staff friends.”

    (Photo provided by Jennifer Miller)

    Lynn told Loveland Magazine that she has many fond teaching memories. “From the children to families and coworkers. Perhaps to see the progress a child made supported by myself and a dedicated, hard-working  team including teaching assistants, speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, school psychologists and counselors and parents … it really does take a village.”

    Oliver who is eight-years-old and former student, now a first-grader told Loveland Magazine, “Miss Lynn is a great teacher who is nice.”

    Lynn was asked what were her fondest early impressions of Loveland, and she replied, “I am home. Loveland truly has that rural-ness that very much reminds me of my hometown. And it keeps getting better.”

    Lynn and Neal Oury in Historic Downtown Loveland (Photo provided by Lynn Oury)

    Her “now” fondest thing about Loveland is the vibrancy in Downtown with its numerous restaurants and shops; to the Bike Trail and Little Miami River. She also mentioned the parks with great playgrounds and picnic areas to for families and, “Our beloved Loveland Farmer’s Market and Loveland Paddle Sports.” she added that she enjoys the events created by The Little Miami Chamber Alliance and the City of Loveland. “Too many to name; Loveland really does have it all.”

    Lynn was on the Loveland Beautification Committee for over 15 years, with “great people”. She volunteers to help with events created by The Little Miami Chamber Alliance.

    (Photo provided by Lynn Oury)

    “I am currently on the Core Team of The Loveland Learning Garden; watering, weeding, and harvesting produce.” Lynn said that in 2024 they took over 1,000 pounds of produce to The Loveland LIFE Food Pantry. They also lead nature related education classes for students at the Loveland Primary and Elementary schools.

    “I can’t think of a better person for this year’s Valentine Lady,” said Loveland first-grade teacher, Jennifer Miller. “I had the privilege of working with Lynn for many years at the Loveland Early Childhood Center. She was also my daughter’s preschool teacher and the preschool teacher of many of my Kindergarten and First Grade Students. When I think about Lynn I automatically think of her huge heart and smile. I can’t wait for her to visit my classroom leading up to Valentine’s Day in February.”

    Miller currently has a boy in her first-grade class named Oliver who was in Lynn Oury’s pre-school class during her last year of teaching, he told Miller last week, “Miss Lynn is a great teacher who is nice.”

    Lynn is also a member of the Loveland Women’s Club. “Through these experiences, I have met amazing, caring, and fun people.”

    “I was very surprised when I found out I was this year’s Loveland Valentine Lady. Surprised, honored, and humbled. I found out at our December Loveland Women’s Club Holiday Luncheon,” Lynn said.

    Lynn was asked what were the things are she was really looking forward to as 2025 unfolds as a Valentine Lady. “I love reading to children and sharing my most favorite books. I also look forward to promoting all the wonderfulness of Loveland.”

    Among her duties as Valentine Lady are being an ambassador for the Chamber’s Valentine Program, visits to area businesses, nursing homes, and schools. Lynn will return to the Loveland schools to visit classrooms and hand-stamp the student’s personalize cards with Loveland’s unique Valentine cachet, which will be modeled after this year’s winning card design.

    The Oury’s hand-built teardrop camper (Photo provided by Lynn Oury)

    Lynn and Neal are campers; hitting the campsites with the teardrop camper he built, as well as his restored 1963 Luxor camper. She added, “I enjoy watercolor painting, playing with our two grandchildren, and yoga. I also enjoy playing golf.”

    The Valentine Program began in 1972 and now includes a variety of Valentine community activities, including a nationally-known cachet stamping and postmark program.

    Lynn will be formally introduced to the community as well as an unveiling of a new Valentine card design winner at a public event in January. Lynn will be the guest of honor at the annual Valentine Breakfast in February.

  • I may have volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race

    I may have volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race

    The Amazing Charity Race is always held on the Saturday of Fathers Day weekend and there are always a lot of dads teamed up with their children. In the photo above, Kailey Hammer is leading her dad Matt through the swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course. They crossed the finish line together, holding hands celebrating their morning together.

    Olivia Smith is a student at Loveland High School

    by Olivia Smith

    Miami Township and Loveland, Ohio – I volunteered at the most exciting and fun challenge station at this year’s Amazing Charity Race… the Jimmy Buffett “We are the people our parents warned us about” station and it was the last one racers had to complete before crossing the finish line. Let me tell you about what your friends and neighbors had to do before they were allowed to cross the finish line after a two-hour grueling race that took them to many parts of Loveland and Miami Township.

    The 14th annual Race was held on Saturday, June 15th. It was a cool day outside, at about 67 degrees. It was very cloudy and rained often but it was a light rain. Just about perfect for everyone who worked so hard, including the many hundreds who volunteered. The start and finish line were at Grailville, the 300-acre retreat center just on the outskirts of Loveland on O’Bannon Avenue. This year there were  20 “Challenge Stations” and about 1,100 people in teams of two, participated.

    A team only feet from the finish line of the Amazing Charity Race after completing the Jimmy Buffett challenge.

    About 50 local charities benefited from this year’s race and it has raised about $700,000 over the last 14 years. The money paid when participants register goes towards those different charities, so when you run in the race, it is for a very good cause. At the end of the race, participants get a chance to vote for their favorite “Challenge Station” or the one they thought had the most pep and the winning station gets an extra $500 towards the charity of their choice.

    The challenges can be anything, but they are all made to be fun, physically or mentally. To get to the next station, teams either ran, biked, or “tubed” (tubing was on the Little Miami River). This year there was about 5-½ miles of biking and racing, so it was about equal. If you would like to register for the next Amazing Charity Race, you can do so by clicking on this LINK.

    Teammates taking on the swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course.

    Another way you can participate in the race is by volunteering as I did for the second time. This year I volunteered at the last challenge in the race. This challenge was Jimmy Buffett themed. It took about 60 volunteers for the challenge to run smoothly.

    The first thing participants had to do when they got to the challenge was to put a pair of swim fins and goggles on, and step over and through a series of bungee cords. Then, because of the fins, they would waddle over to a series of baby pools filled with colored water and poker chips. There they had to find 5 clear chips and get them checked by a volunteer.

    The odds are in your favor at the Margaritaville Casino!

    After they succeeded with that, they would continue waddling over to some pool floaties. These floaties were tall flamingos and palm trees. Participants would have to throw 3 hula hoops onto those floaties. After that, they would waddle over to some more baby pools but this time, they were inflatable pools. They would have to walk, or jump into the pool and make their way through them. Then they would continue waddling as fast as they could to the finish line, where they got to see their loved ones, brag to each other, and have food and refreshments while listening to the local band, Counting Skeletons – fins free!

    The swim-fin Jimmy Buffett Paradise bungee-cord-course

    The last station’s charity was the Karen Carns Foundation. I interviewed Tom Carns, the husband of Karen Carns, who founded the Karen Carns Foundation and asked him to tell me a little bit about the foundation and why it’s important to him. He said, “The main purpose is to assist grieving kids so they can stay in their schools with their teachers and friends. I get to know these kids and families who are going through the same things my kids did.” The money the organization gets goes directly to the students and families for them to use towards school tuition. Other funds are used to purchase winter coats for students. One thing Tom really likes about the race is that it is a lot of fun and it brings everyone together.

    Next, I interviewed Jenny Lytle. She is on both the Race Board and the Karen Carns Foundation Board. The Race Board Members have the hard job of coming up with new ideas every year. “We start coming up with ideas the day after the race. My favorite thing about the race is all the wacky challenges and making it fun for everyone.”

    Would you like to learn more or donate to the Karen Carns Foundation?

    Primary focus of Foundation:

    A child will never be removed from his or her environment of a private elementary or high school education due to a life-changing event that affects the family’s financial situation.

    Secondary:

    Embrace the true meaning of Christmas, by involving children in the charity of providing new winter coats to those less fortunate.

    After Lytle, I interviewed Ed Driscoll who was in his 10th year of being involved with the race. The Karen Carns Foundation is also important to him is because he experienced very similar issues that those kids are going through when at age 9 he lost his own dad. He feels very strongly about education so the Foundation means a lot to him.  I asked Ed what his favorite part of the last challenge was. “The fun part is watching groups trying to get the hula hoops around the floaties while the wind is blowing and hearing them sing Cheeseburger in Paradise.”.

    Lynn Oury on the left and Cynthia Tait on the right also volunteered at the Amazing Charity Race on behalf of the Karen Carns Foundation.

    I also interviewed two volunteers; Lynn Oury and Cynthia Tait. They had run the race together the first year it was held. They both love being a part of the community and it was a great way for them to do that. Tait said laughing, “I wanna be involved but I’m getting older and I can’t run the race anymore.” Oury said, “I love seeing everybody like you and people that I know, so it’s awesome.”

    This short video is some clips of racers heading to the finish line after waddling, some falling, some being pushed through the waiting, wading pool.

    Loveland Magazine is extremely proud to be one of the many sponsors of the Amazing Charity Race!

    Learn more about the Amazing Charity Race, how your group can volunteer, how you can be a corporate sponsor so even more money is raised, or to register for the 2020 race.

  • Lynn Oury: “Neal has a common sense approach to problem solving.”

    Lynn Oury: “Neal has a common sense approach to problem solving.”

    Lynn Oury is the wife of Loveland City Council candidate, Neal Oury

    by Lynn Oury,

    My husband, Neal Oury of 34 years, was born and raised in Loveland, and graduated from Loveland Hurst High School in 1975. We currently live in the home Neal built 30 years ago, and where we have raised our two children. Neal has been active in our community, volunteering his time with several organizations and has served on previous city committees. Neal is currently the Material Sales Manager for Eads Fence Co. and the manager of our downtown local business; Loveland Hardware General Store. It is there that he hones his skills; that of organization, vision for the future of the company, hard work, and excellent customer service. As well, Neal is not afraid to get in the trenches and face conflict.

    I am proud of his tenacity to overcome struggles, as well as his sense of teamwork to help others.

    Neal has a big heart. He cares about his family, friends and community. Neal has a common sense approach to problem solving. As well, he will seek the wisdom of others whom he respects to gain understanding and knowledge. These attributes, as well as those listed above, are endearing to me. I am proud of his tenacity to overcome struggles, as well as his sense of teamwork to help others.

    If elected, Neal will bring these attributes and skill sets to our Loveland City Council. Neal has a vision of vast community input, and a Loveland that includes a more cooperative and respectful City Council.

    Please Vote for my husband, Neal Oury for Loveland City Council on November 7th!

    We deserve better!