March 9, 2010 - Volume 19, No. 10

a Winkler Company publication

An English Cottage featured in
Distinctive Homes
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The Oakwood Register

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The Elephant in the Living Room premieres in Dayton
at Schuster Center March 22

A five hundred fifty pound African lion attacking cars along a major US highway. A sixteen foot Burmese Python in a downtown restaurant parking lot. A panther running loose in a residential neighborhood. Coming soon to a neighborhood near you...

Recently awarded “Best Documentary” at the Sedona International film festival, The Elephant in the Living Room takes viewers on a journey into a world where the most dangerous animals on the planet are kept as common household pets. Ohio filmmaker Michael Webber follows Tim Harrison, an Oakwood police officer, who is recognized as one of the leading authorities on the rescue and capture of exotic pets, as he works through the flood of calls he receives of dangerous predators roaming the inner-city and nearby suburbs.

The Elephant in the Living Room will be shown in Dayton on Monday night, March 22 at the Schuster Center. Tickets are free but seating is limited, so you must register and RSVP online or by phone in order to attend. To learn more about the showtime, location, and to RSVP, go to: www.theelephantinthelivingroom.com/rsvp or call 877-360-RSVP.

The story follows the journey of two men at the heart of the issue. One, Tim Harrison, a hall-of-fame martial arts expert and a world renowned animal protection advocate. Working as a police officer, Harrison has captured and rescued literally hundreds of alligators, crocodiles, lions, bears, tigers and the largest and most deadly snakes on earth, all in the United States. Over the course of is career he has authored two books on the subject of captive exotic pets, produced educational wildlife videos and has been featured on nearly every major television network including National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, CNN, and others.

The other subject of the documentary is Terry Brumfield, a big-hearted man who struggles to keep two pet African lions that he loves like his own family. "The elephant in the living room" is a common English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored. In many parts of the United States, it is legal to raise lions, tigers, venomous snakes, primates and crocodiles in suburban homes as family pets and no one is talking about it. Until now.

Cameraman Rus Muntz, Director Michael Webber and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison celebrate winning “Best Documentary ‘ at Sedona Film Festival recently.

Director Michael Webber spent more than two years making this film. For his work, Webber was awarded the prestigious ACE Award by the Humane Society of the United Sates in conjunction with the American Film Institute and Discovery Channel. The film premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where it received rave reviews, followed by Sedona International Film Festival where it was awarded “Best Documentary”. Film Festivals to follow include Cleveland, Vail, and Beverly Hills.

Presented by Outreach for Animals - a Dayton based non-profit organization.

Athletes make mark at state tournaments

By Dawn Beigel

Oakwood High School’s boys and girls swim teams were commended at last night’s Board of Education meeting for their outstanding performance at the recent state swim meet.

“I think this is the most decorated team in Oakwood history,” said their coach Jennifer Jervis. “At state, we had our best meet ever. They were just magnificent this year.”

The boys team placed fourth while the girls placed sixth, and both teams saw their relay groups all finish fifth.

“We have so much talent that’s here,” said Jervis, who introduced and highlighted the achievements of each team member who made the state meet after the district meet. They included Katie Rupp (diving), Eleanor Hong, Gretchen Pocisk, Madison Brewer, Maddie Hochwalt, Natasha Wahl, Jennifer Schmitz, Ellen Viereckl, Alexis Garza, Daniel Schmitz, David Ireland, Andy Lamb, Buckley Powell, Cliff Goertemiller, Will Krueger, Brendan Tirado and Micah Rhodes. Schmitz is state champion in the 200-yard freestyle.

Jervis also noted the girls team set a district record before going to state. Assisting Jervis in coaching is Brian Martin.

Also commended at the board meeting was the high school wrestling team which placed second at the sectional tournament and third at the district tournament. Alex Kooser and Will LeBoeuf qualified for the state tournament. They are coached by Gary Kesler.

Congratulations also went to Madeline Lehrner for placing first in Principles of Business Administration and to Nichole Thiele for placing fourth in Principles of Hospitality & Tourism in the recent DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) Assoc. competition. Lehrner will advance to state competition. Both girls are students in DECA’s marketing program.

Other commendations not mentioned at the board meeting included the following:

Seniors Audrey Maney and Jonathan Pearson who were named National Merit Scholarship Finalists.
The high school speech and debate team which won the National Qualifier Tournament. Those who qualified for nationals included Tyler Rife, Melanie Ward, Colin Ward, Caroline Paule and Katie Hoffman. They are coached by Brianna Doyal and Alex Kordik.
Senior Katie Mauch, recipient of the 50th annual Dayton LaSertoma Youth Service Award.
Power of the Pen award winners, seventh graders Emily Gray, Laura Chase, Erin Donnelly and eight-grader Megan Cleary. The seventh grade team took second place. They are coached by Susanne King.
Eighth grader Carly Sobol who was Rotary Student of the Month for February.
Senior Greg Ambrose who signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Butler University next school year.

Among legislation, the school board approved the following:

Accepting the highest bid for the surplus table saw submitted by Mike and Sharon Savage in the amount of $250.
Awarding the contract for the east gym floor replacement project at the high school this summer to Cincinnati Flooring. The base bid and Alternate G-2 was $94,417, which is being funded by the Oakwood Athletic Boosters. The floor improvement is intended for academic as well as athletic use.
The retirement/resignation of Phyllis Caudill, Lange School kindergarten teacher, effective July 31. She has been with the district since 1992.
The retirement/resignation of Kaye Carlile, high school art teacher, effective June 30. She has been with the district since 1980.
The retirement/resignation of Elaine Long, high school Spanish teacher, effective June 30. She has been with the district since 1990.
The resignation of Sally Harper, assistant softball coach.

Schmitz state champ at Canton swim meet

Senior Daniel Schmitz became Oakwood High School’s first boy’s state champion in swimming when he won the 200 Freestyle at the state Division II meet in Canton, Ohio on Feb. 28. The OHS boy’s team finished fourth and the girl’s team was sixth.

In addition to his championship performance in the 200 Freestyle, Schmitz also wrapped up his high school career with a fifth place finish in the 100 Freestyle. Senior David Ireland finished seventh in the 100 Butterfly and ninth in the 100 Breaststroke in his last competition for the Lumberjacks. Junior Andy Lamb swam to an 11th place finish in the 200 Freestyle and a 12th place finish in the 500 Freestyle. Joining these three in the Saturday night finals were sophomore Buckley Powell who was 13th in the 100 Butterfly and freshman Cliff Goertemiller who finished 10th in the 500 Freestyle.

The Lumberjacks relay teams also had impressive performances. The 200 Medley Relay team of Schmitz/Ireland/Powell/Lamb finished fifth and the 400 Freestyle Relay team of Schmitz/Lamb/Powell/Goertemiller also ended up fifth. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Brendan Tirado/Ireland/Will Krueger/Goertemiller finished 17th in the preliminaries, missing out on making finals as only the top 16 qualify.

For the OHS girls, there were a number of swimmers who made the top 16. Freshman Eleanore Hong placed seventh in the 100 Backstroke and freshman Gretchen Pocisk finished seventh in the 100 Breaststroke. Freshman Maddie Brewer led the remaining girl’s finals swimmers with a 10th place finish in the 500 Freestyle and was joined by junior Natasha Wahl who sprinted to a 13th place finish in the 50 Freestyle and Pocisk who finished 14th in the 200 IM. Swimming in the morning prelims but finishing outside the top 16 finals qualifiers were Brewer in the 100 Backstroke (19th), Hong in the 200 Freestyle (21st), and freshman Jennifer Schmitz in the 500 Freestyle (21st).

Girl’s relay teams also placed well. The 400 Freestyle Relay team of Pocisk/Brewer/Wahl/Hong swam to a sixth place finish and the 200 Medley Relay team of Hong/Pocisk/ Hochwalt/Wahl also finished sixth. Also swimming at state were the 200 Freestyle Relay team of Wahl/Alexis Garza/Ellen Viereckl/Brewer who finished 18th.

OHS also had a state qualifier in diving for the first time in recent memory. Freshman Katie Rupp placed 22nd in her first state championship.

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