Loveland, as the Sweetheart of Ohio, has a tradition each year of selecting a wonderful lady who represents our town, not for a year, but for the rest of her life. We have had a chance to get to know some of these women over the years and we are thrilled to call them our friends. The ladies are a goodwill gift to our city. Most have volunteered throughout their lives to try to make Loveland a hospitable and enjoyable place to live and work. They spend time at the local Loveland Post Office, stamping Valentine Cards with a beautiful cachet to let the recipient know they’ve received a card or letter from the land of love.

A day full of celebration

The event was held in a different venue this year. Normally it’s held at the Loveland Kroger store. Kroger is the main sponsor of the event and has been for years. This year, the event was held at the Loveland Stage Company. This was a great choice, the theater offers so much more room and fairly decent acoustics. The morning started with a wonderful dance number by the Loveland Stage Company Dancers. They danced to the tune of Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood”. They did a great job and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!

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The dance number was followed by a short talk by Jodi Inabnitt, Chamber President, who reviewed the history of the Loveland Valentine Lady tradition. It’s Jodi’s second year and she really stepped into the program this year, sharing the details of what she found while doing her own research on the program. As someone who has only lived in Loveland a few years, I was excited to hear the background.

The emcee of the morning was Pastor Bill Hounshell of New Hope Baptist Church. He really enjoys the honor of leading this portion of the program. He noted that, next to his wife, these are his favorite ladies! Pastor Bill read through the list of past ladies and as the ladies names were called, they were escorted to their seat by City Manager Tom Carroll and presented a small bouquet by either Mayor Rob Weisgerber or Vice Mayor David Bednar. David relishes his role and his wife was one of the court this year so he wasn’t sure how to address her. He dipped her before giving her the bouquet.

The final bouquet goes to this year’s winner, Jan Ranard. Jan has been active in the community, she led an after school student council program for Loveland Intermediate students, she introduced 200 students each month to community service, school spirit, fundraising and other positive activities. She’s a two time cancer survivor. She taught Jazz music students and she owns Pizazz Studio downtown. Now she is our newest Loveland Lady!

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Loveland also holds a contest each year for an artist to render a special Valentines card. They are always very special and this year the winning designer was Jamie Morath. She created a lovely card that will be on sale for $1.50 at Kroger, the UPS Store, Loveland Healthcare Center, Loveland Chamber, Pizazz Studio, Huntington Bank, Union Savings Bank, Historical Museum, The Lodge, and the City of Loveland. Then be sure to drop your card off at the post office to be postmarked “Loveland, Ohio” and sent on to your valentine.

MariRose sings a beautiful song

Special Luncheon

After the ceremony, the ladies all gathered at Tano’s Bistro, where Chef Tano hosted them for brunch. We got the chance to visit with them as they were preparing to order lunch. It was a lot of fun to watch as the staff took great care of these special ladies. It’s fun to watch these ladies who bonded over the meal with their newest member!

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This program is a special tradition of Loveland and it’s a lot of fun to hang out with these wonderful ladies who have experienced the good and the bad of life and show grace and dignity every time we see them across our fair town. It is our honor and pleasure to know many of these women and we wish Jan great joy as she performs her Loveland Lady duties this year.

Don’t forget, the Valentine Breakfast is February 14 at Oasis Conference Center starting at 8 o’clock. Hopefully, we’ll see you there!

The Loveland Initiative

In the spirit of service, congregation and community, The Loveland Initiative invites you to the 14th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, Sunday, January 15th from 6-9pm at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Parish Life Center on S. Lebanon Road.

The Celebration

Each year, TLI hosts this pot-luck dinner with speakers and musical expression exhorting Rev. Dr. King’s words of inspiration “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” This year guests will hear from the Reverends McCraney, Eilert and Melton from, respectively New Friendship Baptist Church, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and Loveland Presbyterian Church. In addition, the Angels of Faith Youth Dancers, Soldiers for Christ Step Team, the Mass Choir of New Friendship Baptist Church, First Missionary Baptist Church Choir, the Oxford Gourd and Drum Ensemble and Cincinnati Drum and Tribal Dance will perform.

Share With Others

“We would like to welcome everyone to join our volunteers and clients for this positive and powerful event,” said Ms. Terri Rogers, TLI’s long-time Executive Director, “this is a COMMUNITY celebration and it is free and open to the public—so bring a dish to share as you join your neighbors in celebrating the birthday of one of America’s most important spiritual and inspirational leaders.”

If you would like more information about The Loveland Initiative or this event, please contact Ms. Terri Rogers at 513-677-1057 or trogers7@fuse.net.

Our little town of Loveland Ohio celebrated the end of 2011 and the start of 2012 this past weekend. Like other cities and towns, we celebrate in groups large and small. While many simply open a bottle of bubbly and watch the ball drop on television with family, others still get out on the town to celebrate with old friends and to make new ones. In Loveland, we celebrate many different ways! From traditional formal parties, to fine dining, to spending the night with friends with similar interests, to partying with strangers!

AllAroundLoveland.com made it to a few of the parties in town, but I bet there were ones we missed! This is a photo roundup of some of the fun we saw and experienced!

Traditional

We stopped by Receptions who was having a formal dinner/dancing evening. Everyone was decked out and ready to party. Since it was a private affair, we didn’t want to intrude too much, but we did get a great shot of the hostess, Bridget Hooper who was stunningly attired! Great job Bridget!

Fine dining

Our bistro in town did not have a formal event, but that didn’t stop Chef Tano from packing the house. Elegant dining and delicious wine was on tap for the last evening of the year. Diners seemed relaxed, yet focused in conversation in their respective groups. Tano’s always has well paired wines to suit his menu, I’m sure these patrons were well cared for.

A Family Affair

We stopped by Grand Sands Volleyball and got a chance to speak to Debbie Westerkamm partner and manager of the facility. She told us they love events like this because the people who attend are like family. They are so involved with the sport, they see each other all the time and become close. We think it was very cool for Grand Sands to put together this party. It was small and a very fun atmosphere as the attendees lined up for cornhole in the sand! The food looked really good too!

Low Country Boil at Paxton’s

This party was all about the music! A great crowd wandered in and out, enjoying the prime rib special and even occasionally jumping up to dance in the aisles. This band is a favorite at Paxton’s and they never fail to please! We spent some time here, so we have a few more pics. No matter how you party, if you’re from Loveland, you should consider making your home town your party town!

As you can see, there’s something for every in Loveland! Happy New Year Loveland! May 2012 bring peace and happiness to you all!

The Loveland Mayor’s Court is announcing an amnesty program beginning December 19, 2011 through January 13, 2012. Anyone that owes money on delinquent cases can contact the court to pay their fines and costs. During the amnesty period the court may recall any warrants, waive warrant fees, and dismiss any new charges on delinquent cases so that the defendant does not have to reappear in court. The Mayor’s Court clerk can be reached at 513-774-3030.

After January 13, 2012 the court will begin transferring all delinquent cases to Capital Recovery Systems Incorporated. Capital Recovery Systems is a debt collection agency based in Columbus, Ohio and works exclusively with government clients.

Chief Tim Sabransky, Loveland Police Division 583-3000

Loveland Police Sergeant Michael J. Szpak graduated from the Supervisor Training and Education Program (STEP) with thirty two other law enforcement supervisors from throughout Ohio on December 14, 2011.

The STEP program, sponsored by the Law Enforcement Foundation and the Ohio Association of Chief’s of Police, is an intensive supervisory and management training program consisting of fourteen instructional modules including topics such as; Leadership Strategies, Performance Management, Employee Development and Critical Incident Management. The program requires a substantial amount of independent work conducting research, writing papers and reviewing case studies.

“This program is another phase in Sergeant’s Szpak’s development as a supervisor and key member of the Police Division’s management team” says Police Chief Tim Sabransky. Sergeant Szpak, who also holds an Associate degree in English from the university of Cincinnati, was promoted in December 2010. He has been a member of the Police Division since August 1996.

Chief Tim Sabransky, Loveland Police Division

Saturday turned out to be a wonderful day for a festival! Loveland celebrated the 2011 Christmas in Loveland as the residents and businesses turned out in full force. There were lots of smiling faces on children and adults alike. Even though it got a little chilly after the sun went down, the bonfire raged to provide a spot to warm up. In fact, there were firepits at the Cafe, Julians and Paxton’s to keep the crowds from getting too cold to enjoy the night. Here are some of the experiences we had.

Choirs

This year, as always the choirs were impressive! They started the afternoon with a very impressive young woman, Emily Ogden, who has a wonderful voice and she had a great set of songs in our opinion. Another great group was the choir from First Missionary Baptist. Their rendition of the 12 days of Christmas was humorous, but showcased their terrific voices. The choirs sang all evening and as we wandered through our little town, we could always hear them serenading us.

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Hope Baptist Nativity

This year, as always, the Nativity was a constant draw. It was fun to sit nearby and listen to the families as they approached, exclaiming “hey that angel on top is alive!”. The actors do such a great job each year, considering how cold it is (especially on the rooftop) and the petting area is always a great experience for the kids.

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Horse Drawn Wagons

The wagons were only empty once. that’s when they were being driven into position to start their pickups. The sound and experience of the horses clopping and jingling down our streets makes me think back to childhood when things were simpler. There is something special about the horse drawn vehicles that endears the families to line up to be able to get that feeling. The last few years the rides haven’t gone as far since they no longer cross the bridge, but maybe we can generate enough feedback that we can include the museum and art studio again in the future.

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Joe Schickel Book Signing

Mr Shickel recently published his book, Face to Face: Conversations with my Father. This was a great opportunity for him to sign the book for eager readers and to talk a bit about the process. Joe provided All Around Loveland with a copy and we look forward to reading it and doing a personal interview with him in the near future.

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Buddy the Elf

It’s the tallest elf I’ve ever seen! Yep, Buddy was seen all over town tonight sneeking into shops and restaurants and spreading joy wherever he went. He seemed to hang around the sweet shop quite a bit! Hey Buddy, what’s YOUR favorite color? Our guess is green!

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Santa & Scrooge

On the way to the Loveland Canoe & Kayak livery, Santa arrived on the pink firetruck with mean old Scrooge spunging a ride. We hear the kids were throwing at him at Eades Fence, but we also hear the old guy has quite an arm on him still.

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Pizazz Facepainting

Each year the elves of Pizazz do a great job painting the faces of the children of Loveland. This year was no different. The children all seem to love the idea and I think the elves enjoy it too!

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Loveland Sweets

I can’t imagine why everyone was in and out of this little shop all evening. I guess when you have the best sweet treats in town, you can’t help but draw in the crowds. It’s fun to watch the wonderment of the children as they peer into the candy creations around the store. Ok, the dads peer a lot too!

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Paxton’s & The Santa Band!

The Santa Band made an appearance at Paxton’s again this year. A little after 9, the entire brass band piled into the aisles and every crevice they could find to entertain and delight the customers and staff! I think I even saw Sandy dancing in the aisles several times. These are a group of people who love what they do! It’s easy to see why the crowds love them too!

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Everyone Having Fun!

The rest of the pictures are just grouped together, but the whole event was such great fun. We love watching the families come down and have fun together. That doesn’t always happen in america these days. Wer glad we have such a great community here in Loveland. We’re glad the sponsors come out every year to make this even happen and we look forward to next year being even better still!

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The Loveland Initiative helps our neighbors in need. They have been doing it since 1996 and are currently focusing on their Christmas Store helping children to buy gifts for their parents. To allow them to continue to focus on the important tasks ahead of them, they have started a campaign to fund their 2012 operating expenses. Just a few latte’s a week until February would help to fund their entire year. In this time of increased need, they are hoping to be able to help more families as the recession lingers.

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The Loveland Police Division was awarded the Silver Service Award from the American Automobile Association (AAA) at the organization’s annual awards banquet on November 30th.

Each year, Police agencies in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area are eligible to participate in the AAA Traffic Safety Program. This is a national program that entails various safety efforts within a community, including traffic enforcement, traffic education in our schools, participation in multi-jurisdictional Task Forces, and customized initiatives designed to make streets safer.

Many Loveland Police Officers collaborated throughout the year to provide training and education, enforcement, and advertisement in Loveland to highlight traffic safety. “I am proud of the Police Division and the efforts of our officers to promote traffic safety in Loveland” said Police Chief Tim Sabransky. “Traffic related issues continue to be a priority for our residents and we have responded to that concern with a variety of programs that were recognized with our AAA award.”

The AAA awards are presented to participating communities based on their efforts to improve local traffic safety. Several other Hamilton County and Northern Kentucky agencies also were recognized for their traffic safety efforts.

-Chief Tim Sabransky, Loveland Police Division

Congratulations to our 3 council winners, Mark Fitzgerald, Paulette Leeper and Angie Settell!

With SB5 falling, our council will have a tough job keeping our budget and services balanced. Lead us wisely, keep us safe, grow our businesses! We know you can do it, and we’re behind you!

Notice of Public Hearing

The Loveland City Council will hold a Public Hearing on Tuesday, November 22, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located 120 W. Loveland Avenue, Loveland, Ohio 45140.

The purpose of the public hearing is to receive public comments on a request for a City Zoning Code text and map amendment for a Special Planning District (SPD) pursuant to Zoning Code Section 1151.02(a)(1), in areas which include Loveland Station and properties bordered by E. Loveland Avenue, Third Street and O’Bannon Avenue. Information about the proposed amendment can be examined at City Hall during business hours, Monday through Friday.

Interested persons may appear and be heard with respect to the proposed text and map amendment. Comments may also be submitted in writing to the Clerk of Council, 120 W. Loveland Avenue, Loveland, OH 45140 or emailed to mcheshire@lovelandoh.com.

Individuals with disabilities requiring special accommodations that are participating in or wish to attend this hearing should call 513-683-0150 at least seven (7) days in advance so arrangements can be made.

Misty Cheshire
Clerk of Council
City of Loveland