The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

By Ayana Mathis

Loneliness and hard-won grace pervade The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Ayana Mathis’ virtuoso debut novel. This portrait of three generations of an African-American family spans more than half a century and most of the life of its indelible title character, Hattie Shepherd.

Mathis’ novel was rushed into print early after it was anointed an Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection. It deserves the media buzz. Mathis is an elegant stylist with a sure eye for telling detail and a deft hand for creating and controlling suspense. As her characters suffer and stray, she walks the fine line of treating them with compassion but never sentimentality.

Although the book’s time frame contains the years of the Great Migration of blacks out of the South and the civil rights era, those sweeping forces appear only indirectly. Mathis’ focus is personal, not historical.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie opens in 1925 with a glimpse of an all-too-temporary Eden. Two years before, Hattie and her mother and sisters fled their Georgia home after her father was murdered by white men. When Hattie stands for the first time on the streets of Philadelphia and sees black people walking freely on the sidewalk rather than stepping off it for whites to pass, she never wants to leave.

By age 17, Hattie has married a young electrician named August Shepherd and is the doting mother of twins. “The neighborhood rang with birdsong. The twittering lulled the twins to sleep and put Hattie in such high spirits that she giggled all the time. … the grass in Hattie and August’s tiny square of lawn was green as the first day of the world.”

But that green day darkens with sickening speed. The twins, not yet a year old, die in their mother’s arms of pneumonia — a loss Mathis describes in spare but shattering detail — leaving their mother with a hole in her heart that never heals.

At first, she struggles with depression so deep that she can barely care for the children that quickly come along — there will be nine that live. Then she rebuilds herself into the family’s hard-working rock, whose kids call her the General (behind her back) and endlessly calculate both how to dodge her strict discipline and win her perhaps impossible affection.

Although Hattie is very much the central character — its unsolvable enigma, its unattainable beloved — Mathis tells her story through her children. Each chapter bears the names of one or two of them, and plunges us into their very different lives.

Each chapter also bears a date, moving forward from 1948 to 1980, but within them Mathis moves back and forth in time, filling in past and present. As years pass, some of Hattie’s children seem to have found good lives, but not without searing losses.

Oldest son Floyd becomes a successful musician, but only by resolving to suppress his sexuality. Daughter Alice marries a doctor and uses her wealth to take care of her damaged brother Billups, or so we think until it becomes clear who is the damaged one. Daughter Ruthie is born of Hattie’s second short-lived bout of happiness: an affair with a dashing man named Lawrence Bernard. Son Six, who bears terrible scars from a childhood burning, tries to become a preacher, discovers he is not touched by God — and becomes a preacher anyway.

The most harrowing chapter, perhaps, is daughter Bell’s. As a teen, Bell was shocked to catch a glimpse of Hattie with Lawrence; when Bell meets him years later, she begins a breathtakingly cruel affair with him. We learn her story as she is near death, but Hattie isn’t done with her.

In the chapter named for Ella, Hattie’s last child, whom she gives up to be raised by her well-off sister, we get a heartbreaking sense of what lies beneath Hattie’s coldness. And in the last chapter, named for granddaughter Sala, we see how far her strength extends.

Racial prejudice and inequality are among the forces Hattie and her family contend with, to be sure, but Mathis’ novel is about human experiences that we all share, about love and loss, and about the tremendous distances and inextricable bonds that form our families.

Author celebrates works
of Akron church architect

You might not know the name William P. Ginther, but you probably know his work: Ginther designed some of the most prominent churches in Ohio, including Akron’s Annunciation and St. Bernard Catholic churches, St. Paul’s in Canton and the former SS. Cyril and Methodius in Barberton.

In Dedication: The Work of William P. Ginther, Ecclesiastical Architect, Anthony J. Valleriano depicts both the geographic range of the Akron-born Ginther’s work — he found commissions as far away as Oxnard, Calif. — and its diversity in style, from the rural red brick in the now-closed 1906 St. Philip Neri Church in Murray City to Pittsburgh’s opulent 1905 Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Ginther, who lived from 1858 to 1933, studied architecture at Buchtel College (now the University of Akron), and also designed other buildings like parochial schools and hospitals (Canton’s original Mercy Hospital).

The book is picture-heavy, with annotations consisting only of names, cities and dates. Dedication (212 pages, hardcover) costs $39 from Kent State University Press. Anthony J. Valleriano is a graphic design manager at Case Western Reserve University.

Sacred landmarks of Cleveland

Churches are built to stand for many years, but even when they do, things change. They are sold to different congregations, or decommissioned and turned into commercial enterprises. Some burn down or are demolished.

Much has happened in the 20 years since the first edition of A Guide to Cleveland’s Sacred Landmarks, and Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., in a new update, profiles more than 150 churches, synagogues and other sites.

Dividing the landmarks into 15 driving tours, Ellis lists each with its year of construction, architect and builder if known, and tells why the building is important both historically and architecturally. He praises the richness of the many ethnic parishes, like St. Stephen on West 54th Street, “generally acknowledged to be the most beautifully decorated church in Cleveland” and the onion-domed St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral, where scenes from The Deer Hunter were filmed. Some churches have been built since the last edition; Euclid Avenue Congregational Church is included, despite having burned down after the manuscript was completed.

Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., a retired physician, later earned a Ph.D. in art history. The photos are by Eva M. Ellis, the author’s wife. A Guide to Cleveland’s Sacred Landmarks (434 pages, softcover), costs $45 from Kent State University Press.

It is fascinating for anyone interested in architecture, local history or religion.

Stroll down Millionaires’ Row

Around 1885, half of all the world’s millionaires lived in Cleveland. Many of those millionaires built mansions on Euclid Avenue, and in their new book Cleveland in the Gilded Age: A Stroll Down Millionaires’ Row, Dan Ruminski and Alan Dutka tell of the men who lived on what Mark Twain once called “one of the finest streets in America” and what happened to their homes.

In all, there were more than 300 such homes between Public Square and East 105th Street, of various styles and sizes; the authors note that John D. Rockefeller, the richest of them all, built a less ostentatious home on the less fashionable south side of Euclid, while his rival Samuel Andrews came up with a 100-room white elephant in which he lived for about three years.

While it’s intriguing to learn about these huge symbols of prosperity, and saddening to learn of their fates (all but a handful were demolished decades ago, now vacant lots and sites of fast-food restaurants), the authors’ gift is in the characters — about how Rockefeller took golf lessons to impress his wife; how Laura Mae Corrigan sold her emeralds to Herman Goering so she could afford to aid French war refugees; how Jeptha Wade paid off a neighboring church to stop ringing its annoying bells.

Cleveland in the Gilded Age (158 pages, softcover) costs $19.99 from History Press. Dan Ruminski speaks about Cleveland history; his blog is at www.Clevelandhistorylessons.com. Alan Dutka wrote East Fourth Street: The Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of an Urban Cleveland Street.

Events

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Beachwood branch, 25501 Shaker Blvd.) — Sam Thomas signs his historical mystery The Midwife’s Tale, set during the English Civil War, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Sam Thomas signs The Midwife’s Tale, 1 p.m. Saturday.

Visible Voice Books (1023 Kenilworth Ave., Cleveland) — Jacqueline Marino, author (with photojournalist Tim Harrison) of White Coats: Three Journeys through an American Medical School, reads from and signs her book, 7 p.m. Saturday; award-winning poet Sarah M. Wells (Acquiesce) reads from her work, 8 to 9 p.m. Saturday.

— Barbara McIntyre

Special to the Beacon Journal

Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.

The Intercept

Dick Wolf

Dick Wolf, creator of the popular TV series Law & Order, makes it look like he’s been writing novels his entire life with his debut thriller, The Intercept. The tight prose, great characters and the intense twists are all signs of a master at work.

Flight 903 inbound to Newark makes history when a flight attendant and five other passengers thwart an attempted hijacking. The plane lands, the hijacker is taken into custody, and the rescuers become instant celebrities. The job of uncovering the hijacker’s motives falls to Jeremy Fisk, an NYPD police detective assigned to the Intelligence Division of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Investigating with his partner, they uncover evidence that the hijacker was meant to fail.

While his partner tries to protect the heroes of the flight on their tour of various media outlets, Jeremy tries to track down the real mastermind.

Wolf examines the obsession Americans have with instant celebrity and how that fame can both boost and hinder a person’s life. And he puts the reader directly into the minds of the police who work to keep citizens safe.

Readers will be clamoring for more adventures with Jeremy Fisk.

— Jeff Ayers

Associated Press

La Boheme

Various artists

Two contemporary stagings of Puccini’s La Boheme from 2012 have been released on DVD: Stefan Herheim’s reimagining that opened in January at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, and Damiano Michieletto’s staging that premiered in July at the Salzburg Festival in Austria. Both are equally fascinating and frustrating.

Taking the 1963 sets by Heike Scheele, Herheim begins with Mimi’s death — usually the final moment. And she succumbs to cancer rather than consumption. Only after Mimi flatlines does the music begin, and the opera is a series of flashbacks in Rodolfo’s mind as he refuses to accept her death. His garret transforms into a hospital ward and back.

Mimi alternately appears somewhat healthful looking and bald from her treatments. Much of the chorus is also bald in the jarring Christmas Eve scene at the Cafe Momus, and the landlord Benoit, the toy salesman Parpignol, the drum major and Musetta’s friend, Alcindoro, all are haunting personifications of death. Marcello and Musetta sometimes morph into medical staff.

Much of the poetry is lost in the third act, intended to be set on the snowy outskirts of Paris, but here the surroundings divert to a hospital.

Jennifer Rowley (Musetta) gives the best portrayal, with Marita Solberg (Mimi), Diego Torre (Rodolfo) and Vasilij Ladjuk (Marcello) somewhat stiff, as if they were confined by the direction. Conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen has difficulty establishing a flowing mood and pace.

La Boheme had never appeared at the Salzburg Festival until last summer’s contemporary staging, which featured Anna Netrebko (Mimi) and Piotr Beczala (Rodolfo), the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Daniele Gatti.

Michieletto’s wackiest idea was to set the second act filled with Christmas Eve shoppers on what appears to be a Google map of Paris’ Latin Quarter. His best was to set the third act by a snow-filled highway off-ramp with a food truck, as sanitation workers went about their business and partygoers walked by.

Rodolfo is a filmmaker whose garret has a high glass wall that allows an unseen person to write “Mimi” in huge letters with a finger on the condensation. Mimi wears a black leather jacket, has a blue streak in her hair and tattoos. Parpignol is an acrobat in a superhero suit.

Netrebko’s plush soprano thrills, as does Beczala’s ringing tenor, and Nino Machaidze (Musetta) and Massimo Cavalletti (Marcello) combine for a top-level ensemble. Even those not thrilled by staging will be entertained by the singing.

— Ronald Blum

Associated Press

There was Roger Daltrey, 68, with his open shirt revealing a Palm Beach perma-tan, and abs so snare-tight that they immediately raised suspicion. (“Implants!” charged a few skeptical members of the Twittersphere.)

There was Jon Bon Jovi, 50, with his flowing mane now a shade of coppery gold that only a hairdresser could love.

There was Paul McCartney, 70, with his unlined face retaining an eerie degree of his Beatlemania-era boyishness.

Last month’s star-studded 12-12-12 concert — a showcase of retirement-age rock icons like the Rolling Stones, the Who and Eric Clapton — not only raised millions to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy, but as “the largest collection of old English musicians ever assembled in Madison Square Garden,” as Mick Jagger joked onstage, also inspired viewer debate. Rock stars, after all, face the same battles with crow’s feet and sagging jowls that everyone else eventually does. But their visible aging happens under the microscope and seems somehow more tragic since they toil in a business built on youthful rebellion and their look contrasts so sharply with our shared cultural images of them, frozen in youthful glory.

The issue takes on added relevance for graying fans from the baby boom and Generation X who grew up taking style cues from these rock heroes (and continue to make geriatric acts like Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters some of the biggest draws in the concert business). If rock immortals can’t accept with a certain grace the ravages of time, what does this portend for the rest of us?

Perhaps this is why so many of the concert’s 19 million U.S. viewers turned into fashion critics during the show, zapping the rockers on blogs and Twitter not just for looking old but for their occasionally clumsy efforts to appear young.

“I want to re-knight Sir Paul for those next-level dad jeans,” tweeted Julieanne Smolinski, 29, a New York writer, in reference to McCartney’s crisp, pre-faded dungarees, which looked like Gap deadstock from 1991.

“I will donate $1,000 to #121212Concert if Roger Daltrey buttons his shirt,” tweeted Alan Zweibel, 62, a comedy writer.

Visual dishonesty

The quickest route to ridicule, it seems, is for aging rockers to proceed as if nothing has changed. The truth is, years have passed, and to deny this is a form of visual dishonesty. With his shirt thrown open during a rousing rendition of Baba O’Riley, Daltrey — a specimen for his age, to be sure — unfortunately invited comparisons to his groupie-magnet self from the Tommy era. In doing so, he violated an obvious dictum for seniors: Keep your clothes on in public.

But he is not the only offender. At 65, Iggy Pop still takes the stage wearing no shirt, just jeans, as if it’s 1972. It’s not that his body is not freakishly impressive for a man his age. Aside from a few sags and bulging veins, his torso generally looks as lithe as a Joffrey dancer’s.

The problem is not the image itself, so much as the image suggested, as if these aging sex symbols are still attracting hordes of groupies to the cozy confines of their tour buses.

That may well be true, of course, but when these flesh-baring rockers are men of Viagra-taking age, that’s a visual most people could do without. It’s like hearing that your grandparents still have sex: Bully for them, but spare us the details.

Hair is complicated for seemingly anyone over 40 — to dye or not to dye, that is question. But it is a tougher call for rock stars like Bon Jovi, whose hair has always been a key element of his brand. If, one day, the pop-metal crooner were to appear singing Lay Your Hands on Me sporting a professor emeritus shock of white hair, as the fellow 12-12-12 performer Waters of Pink Floyd did, would anyone heed his siren call? (I guess we should be grateful that Bon Jovi hasn’t gone the route of Roy Orbison, who maintained his jet-black coif well into his 50s, giving him the unfortunate look of an aging blackjack dealer at a lesser Vegas casino.)

Hair or not

Given the raised eyebrows that Jagger and McCartney attract with their ever-chocolate locks (although at least Jagger’s wrinkled magnificence suggested his face had been untouched by a surgeon’s blade), it is no wonder the new tonsorial compromise of choice for aging rockers is strategic baldness. A close-cropped buzz cut or shaven head simply erases all visible evidence of follicular aging, as well as lending them a vague bouncerish tough guy appeal. It works for Phil Collins, Moby and Seal.

With his shaved head, Paul Shaffer, the David Letterman foil, looked nearly as age-ambiguous playing piano behind Adam Sandler on the comedian’s Hallelujah parody during the 12-12-12 as he did playing in the Saturday Night Live house band in the late ’70s. It would have worked for Michael Stipe, too, if he hadn’t chosen to tarnish the effect with a silver Robert E. Lee beard. Ultimately, there is little to be done about graying temples or sagging jowls (short of medical intervention, anyway). This leaves clothing as the prime area for rock stars to experiment with age denial, without looking plastic.

Most fading rock gods seem to intuit that overly sexualized stage outfits turn into clown costumes after a certain age. David Lee Roth, who scissor-kicked his way through the ’80s in skintight tiger-stripe jumpsuits, took the stage on a recent Van Halen tour dressed more like a groom atop a biker wedding cake: black leather pants, shiny blue shirt, black pinstripe vest.

Take a lesson from Eric Clapton and his well-fitting suits: After 40, it’s time to lose the sequins, unless you’re Liberace.

Sometimes, though, even a keen fashion sense is not enough to ward off the jibes.

At the 12-12-12 concert, Jagger took the stage in a subtly snazzy gray python jacket, a Bordeaux taffeta shirt and black jeans. The jacket and shirt, designed by his longtime companion L’Wren Scott, were a far cry from his sequined jumpsuits of the ’70s, but that did not stop the wisecracks.

“Mick Jagger looks like your aunt trying to be cool at a wedding,” tweeted Gregg Hughes, known as “Opie,” the SiriusXM radio shock-jock.

But Jagger, who at 69 still bounds and gyrates through unimaginably athletic, 2½-hour sets, has a built-in response at the ready.

As he put it long ago, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

MICHIGAN CITY, IND.: Mount Baldy is still moving, but its movement has been slowed.

Mount Baldy features high hills of wild, windswept sand, topped by grasses, shrubs and small trees. It rises 126 feet above Lake Michigan and is one of the biggest attractions at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It is the one dune at the federal lakeshore in northern Indiana that visitors are welcome to climb up and slide down.

But the movement of sand that is altering Mount Baldy is slowing. Lakeshore officials have added barriers to keep visitors on designated trails atop Mount Baldy to stabilize the vegetation on the tallest moving sand dune in the lakeshore.

The dunes are shaped by northwest winds that carry the sand 4 to 5 feet inland a year. Grasses and trees are unable to stop the sand’s movement when the wind exceeds 7 mph.

The National Park Service adopted what’s called the Mount Baldy Dune Protection Plan in early 2011 to slow and reverse damage to the dunes from the trampling feet of visitors, which accelerated the sand movement to what the park service calls an alarming rate. The wind has been moving sands and slowly burying trees on the dune’s southern flank.

The federal initiative is helping at Mount Baldy and may be used at other heavily visited dunes in the lakeshore, officials said.

You still climb two trails to reach the top of Mount Baldy, but parts of the dune are now off-limits. The southern slope with its half-buried trees above the parking lot is closed, as is a third trail. You can scale the dune from the lakeside or take a trail to the top and then hike down its north face. It is a 0.7-mile loop.

Mount Baldy, a bowl-shaped dune at the eastern end of the 15,067-acre federal park, is an impressive sight. From the top, you will see a nearby power plant, steel mills to the west in Gary and, on clear days, the Chicago skyline.

The elongated lakeshore stretches 30 miles along Lake Michigan from Gary to Michigan City. Indiana Dunes with its 15 miles of beaches and recreational and historical attractions is a popular summer playground. It got 1.9 million visitors in 2011.

The lakeshore encompasses 2,182-acre Indiana Dunes State Park and several state-run nature preserves in Porter, Lake and LaPorte counties. It is a mosaic of dunes, prairies and bogs at the edge of heavily industrial northern Indiana. It is about 300 miles or five hours from Akron.

These are among the world’s highest freshwater dunes, distinctive for their plant diversity. There are about 1,400 species of vascular plants in six distinctive plant communities. Strangely, you will find Arctic plants and desert vegetation thriving together.

Interestingly, Indiana Dunes is where the term “plant succession” was coined in 1899 by University of Chicago biology professor Henry Cowles.

One of the key plants is marram grass, which pokes up through the sand and thrives in the extreme conditions. The narrow waxy leaves and the dual-purpose root system help it endure high winds, shifting sands and temperatures that range from below freezing to desert-like heat.

The grass spreads its roots and keeps the sand from shifting. A single marram grass may spread more than 20 feet in diameter. Its roots can also emerge as new plants.

The park service planted 200,000 marram grass plants in 2012 to anchor the dunes. It relied on volunteers after Hurricane Sandy to replant about 30,000 of those plants.

You will find marram grass, sand cherry, wild grapes, bluestem grass, milkweed, cottonwood trees and puccoon flames in what’s called the foredunes. In the middle dunes, the plants include arctic bearberry, jack pine, white pine and common juniper. The oldest dunes are home to black oak, witch hazel and winged sumac.

Between the dunes, you are apt to find low-lying, hummocky wetlands.

Blowouts are places where winds have blown away sand and exposed long-buried trees. One of the biggest blowouts is 300 yards long and can be found at the eastern end of the state park. You can access it from the state park or from Kemil Beach.

The state park is also home to the tallest dune: Mount Toms at 192 feet.

Indiana Dunes features “singing sands,” but I have not heard them, despite extensive beach walking. The combination of quartz crystals, moisture, pressure and the friction from your feet on the sand can create a clear, ringing sound that can be heard up to 30 feet away. It may occur once a month when conditions are right, according to park officials.

There is more than a bit of history at Indiana Dunes. That includes the Chellberg Family Farmhouse, a brick farmhouse built in 1885 by a Swedish immigrant family after a fire destroyed their wooden farmhouse.

Anders and Johanna Chellberg and their son, Charles, immigrated in 1863 and bought 40 acres for their farm in 1869. The family farmed the land until 1972.

A fur trader, Joseph Bailly, set up a trading post in 1822 along the old Calumet Beach Trail that once connected Chicago and Detroit. U.S. 12 follows that route. His last home survives as a National Historic Landmark. The Bailly Family cemetery dating to 1827 is a half mile north of the homestead.

Getting protection for Indiana Dunes was not easy. There was a failed effort to protect them in 1916. The state park was created in 1923 and the federal park in 1966.

Swimming is permitted at the lakeshore but the park service advises caution because the Lake Michigan waters can be dangerous. High winds and waves can create rip currents, and the lake bottom is uneven and filled with holes.

Lifeguards are on duty only at West Beach. The summer fee is $6 per vehicle.

Camping is available in the lakeshore’s 79-unit Dunewood Campground from April 1 to mid-October. Private campgrounds are nearby and the state park offers camping. It has a nature center and 16.5 miles of hiking trails.

The lakeshore offers 45 miles of trails for hiking and bicycling. One of the most rugged is the Cowles Bog Trail that runs 5 miles through high dunes, wetlands and oak savannahs. It is off Mineral Springs Road off U.S. 12. The bog is a National Natural Landmark.

There are three loop trails at West Beach that stretch 3.5 miles: the Dune Succession, Long Lake and West Beach trails. There is a great overlook on the Dune Succession Trail along with 200 wooden steps that ascend the dune’s face.

West Beach is the most popular area of the park. You will find fewer people and more solitude farther to the east.

You can also drive past five houses on Lakefront Drive east of the state park. They were part of the Homes of Tomorrow exhibit at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago.

For information on the national lakeshore, call 219-926-7561 or visit www.nps.gov/indu. A good place to start your visit is the visitor center at 1215 N. State Route 49, Porter, Ind.

For the state park, call 219-926-1952, www.in.gov/dnr. The summer fee is $10 for out-of-state vehicles.

Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.

Joanne Filina has the word “Believe” tattooed on the inside of her left wrist.

The word reflects her confidence in God’s ability to heal and serves as the anchor in the name of her charity, Believe in the Cure.

“If you believe in God, you will be cured. Everybody’s cure is not the same, but whatever your cure is, you will receive it, whether it’s leaving this earth or starting a nonprofit,” said Filina, of Akron. “I believe everything happens for a reason. I went from my lowest point of being diagnosed with cancer to going into remission and being inspired to make a difference in the lives of other people who are fighting cancer.”

Filina, 39, founded Believe in the Cure in June 2011, after a personal battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The mission of the nonprofit is to raise funds for cancer research and education and for medical bill relief. Its focus is on cancer research for adolescents and young adults (ages 16 to 39).

Believe in the Cure’s inaugural fundraiser will be at 5 p.m. Jan. 12 at Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal), 471 Crosby St., Akron. It will include a silent auction, 50/50 raffle and Greek food. It will feature the Grammy-nominated Jann Klose band (www.jannklose.com) from New York City and two speakers, Dr. Nick Parasson of Summit Natural Wellness Center in Akron (www.snwcenter.com) and Dr. Joseph Flynn, clinical director of hematologic malignancies at The James Cancer Center (www.cancer.osu.edu) at Ohio State University Medical Center.

Flynn, the oncologist who treated Filina, said he agreed to participate in the fundraiser because he admires her commitment to helping others. He also views it as an opportunity to share information.

“We all have this fear when we hear the word ‘cancer’ and we’ve all been touched by it. Although we tend to hear all of the bad things about the illness, there have been a lot of advances in research and treatment,” Flynn said. “Advocacy has helped move the needle in cancer care, research and new drugs. By educating people, we can improve the care for all patients, because if it weren’t for advocacy, we wouldn’t be where we are in cancer treatment.”

Flynn said that Filina’s charity will become part of the network that champions the movement toward a cure for cancer. That support, he said, has resulted in the continuous decline of the cancer mortality rate since 1991.

“What I plan to do is educate people on the impacts of cancer and the issues surrounding it, including the good-news parts, like the new regimens that are being discovered. That is a real message of hope,” Flynn said. “I’m a proponent of anyone who is trying to make a difference in people’s lives: the researchers, the caregivers and Joanne, who has taken a horrible situation and turned it into an opportunity to impact people’s lives in a positive way.”

Personal battle

Filina was diagnosed with blood cancer of the white cells called lymphocytes in August 2010, after undergoing blood tests to find a cause for her persistent sore throat and the swollen lymph nodes in her neck. By that December, she found herself at the lowest point in her life — wondering if she was going to live to see her children (Adam and Zoe, now 8 and 3, respectively) grow up.

With the support of her husband of 12 years, Robert, Filina found The James Cancer Center at OSU, where she underwent chemotherapy in May 2011. Seven months later, a bone marrow biopsy confirmed she was in remission.

“During my low point, I was pretty hateful with God. I questioned why he was doing this to me, a mother with a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old,” Filina said.

As she struggled to come to grips with what was happening to her, Filina’s friend and neighbor, Colleen Denholm, invited her to church at Church of Our Saviour. Denholm is the coordinator of the upcoming fundraiser.

“The moment I walked in, I felt the spirit, and I really believe my healing started at that point,” Filina said. “When we began planning for the fundraiser, I couldn’t think of a better place to have it than the place where my healing began.”

Tickets for the fundraiser are $50 each and can be purchased at www.believeinthecure.org. The website also offers other opportunities to donate to the charity.

Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com.

Hillel at Kent State University and the university’s Office of Quality Initiatives and Curriculum are organizing a day of community service to commemorate Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 21.

The initiative, called Just For a Day, encourages students, faculty, staff and community members to volunteer and give back to the community. It begins at 9 a.m. at the Cohn Jewish Student Center, 613 E. Summit St. on the college campus. Volunteers will be sent out to work at a variety of locations in Portage and Summit counties, including Hattie Larlham, the Campus Kitchen, Meals on Wheels and Freedom House. The goal is to bring a minimum of 120 volunteers together.

Just For a Day debuted on Veteran’s Day 2009 and has regularly rotated between the two federal holidays. For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, call 330-678-0397 or email MLKJust4aDay@gmail.com.

Hillel at Kent State is an independent nonprofit Jewish organization.

In other religion news:

Events

First Church of Brethren — 1812 Marigold Ave., Akron. 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. today. All-you-can-eat soup supper plus desserts. Adults $6, ages 12 and younger $4.

Mogadore Christian Church — 106 S. Cleveland Ave., Mogadore. 5 to 6 p.m. today. Contemporary and Casual Worship Service will be held the first Saturday of each month in Fellowship Hall. Light dinner during service includes soup and sandwich. Childcare available. 330-628-4433.

New Life Episcopal Church — 13118 Church St., Lake Township. 3 p.m. Sunday. Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the successful merger of two parishes, as well as the December completion of the church’s $150,000 building repair and renovation project. The special service will be celebrated by the Rev. Mark Hollingsworth Jr., bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. It will include a blessing of the renovated areas. A reception will follow. 330-699-3554.

South Arlington United Methodist Church — 790 S. Arlington St., Akron. 8:30 to 11 a.m. today. Breakfast fundraiser. Variety of breakfast items available. Homemade cinnamon rolls. On Friday from 9 to 11 a.m., there will be an open public food pantry. 330-724-1334.

Speakers, classes,

workshops

Akron-Canton Shambala Center — 133 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls. 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 17. First session of a five-week introductory meditation class, Meditation in Everyday Life, held on Thursdays. Participants do not have to take the entire series. 330-459-0320.

The Chapel in Marlboro — 8700 State Route 619, Marlboro Township. Winter Retreat will be held Feb. 1-2 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Interstate 77 and Rockside Road in Independence. Speaker will be Jennifer Sands, a Christian author and speaker who lost her husband in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Her topic is Abiding in Christ. Registration required, deadline is Jan. 13. Call 330-935-0132.

Grace United Methodist Church — 1720 Schneider St. NW, Plain Township. 6 p.m. Wednesday. First session of varied classes offered for 11 Wednesdays through March 20. The University of Faith includes classes on Alpha: A practical introduction to the Christian faith; Prayer Shawl Ministry: Knit, crochet or sew; American Sign Language; Acts: Celebration of Discipline; The Gift Years: Learn how to handle the golden years; Personal Christian Finance; It’s Tough Being a Woman: A study by Beth Moor; Change the World: Recovering the Message and Mission of Jesus; Why Men Hate Going to Church; and Wacky Wednesday: a class for grade K-5. Soup and sandwich at 6:45 p.m., classes from 6:45 to 8 p.m. 330-499-2330.

Malone University — Office of Spiritual Formation & Arrants-McSwain, Randall Campus Center, 2600 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 18. One-day educational workshop for pastors and spiritual leaders. It was originally scheduled for Friday, but the date has been changed. It is designed to help leaders understand and relate to people of their congregation and develop spiritual formation practices that relate to their special needs. To register, call Celia King at 330-471-8632. Cost is $59 per person. Limited to 50 participants.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church — 583 W. Hopocan Ave., Barberton. 8 and 10 a.m. Sunday. The Rev. Gay Jennings, president of the Episcopal Church House of Deputies, will be guest preacher at two services of Holy Eucharist, where the church will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. 330-753-9026.

The deadline for Religion Notes is noon Tuesday. Items must be in writing. Please fax information to 330-996-3033, email it to religion@thebeaconjournal.com or send it to Religion, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309

Pam Wilson’s yard is the neighborhood hangout for the fur and feather set.

On a cold morning earlier this week, squirrels scampered along tree limbs while birds fluttered from branch to feeder and back. Patches of snow were packed underfoot, pocked by the telltale prints of hooves and paws.

The Springfield Township woman has turned her three-quarters of an acre into a wildlife haven where critters are assured of finding abundant food and water as well as places to sleep, nest and hide from predators.

Caring for wildlife is a passion for Wilson, a Firestone retiree with a lifelong love of animals. She started feeding the animals about 10 or 15 years ago, and “it just started growing,” she said with a laugh.

Her yard has 20 or more feeding stations, which she supplies with 50 to 60 pounds of seed and peanuts every day along with shelled corn and apples for the deer. Heaters keep the water from freezing in about half a dozen birdbaths so the animals can drink or bathe. In summer when heating isn’t necessary, she provides even more watering stations, sometimes using such simple vessels as old TV dinner containers and plastic trash can lids.

The yard is natural-looking without being unkempt. Brushy areas are edged by ornamental plants, selected both for their looks and their ability to provide food or cover for wildlife. A small tree that fell in a windstorm this fall was left lying in the yard to provide shelter, and Wilson was looking forward to gathering discarded Christmas trees to add to her brush piles.

Those kinds of features are ideal for attracting wildlife, said Jamie Emmert, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife. Our society prizes neat lawns, but she argues it’s better to leave some areas natural. Not only it is preferable for wildlife, but it also saves time and resources, she said.

Still, it’s not necessary to go to Wilson’s extent to attract wildlife to your yard. Even small steps make a difference.

Providing habitats for wildlife is helpful all year but especially in winter, when conditions are harsh and natural supplies of food and water dwindle, Emmert said.

Want to make your yard a more attractive place for wildlife? Here’s how.

Provide water

Water is often more attractive to wildlife than food, simply because it’s hard to find, especially in winter, Emmert said. It’s also cheaper, she noted.

Water can come from a source such as a creek or waterfall, or just a simple container. Any shallow container that can hold water will do, she said. It’s best if the container is only a couple of inches deep, but you can add stones to a deeper container to give birds places to stand.

If you have an outdoor electrical outlet, Emmert recommended buying a heated birdbath or a small heating element designed for a birdbath to prevent the water from freezing. Stores that specialize in bird feeding usually carry birdbath accessories.

Moving water attracts wildlife more than standing water, so Emmert suggested adding a device that makes the water ripple.

Change the water as necessary. In warm weather, change it as often as two or three times a week to remove mosquito eggs before they hatch, the National Wildlife Federation advises.

Create cover

Wildlife needs places to hide from people and predators and seek shelter from bad weather. Native shrubs and thickets are ideal, the wildlife federation says, but brush piles also work well.

Emmert recommended creating a brush pile near a bird feeder so birds — especially desirable songbirds — have a place to retreat if they feel threatened. Birds are less likely to visit a feeder that’s out in the open, where they feel vulnerable, she said.

For small mammals such as chipmunks and rabbits, Emmert suggested creating a shelter by stacking downed limbs in Lincoln Log fashion to create walls with a cavity in the center.

She said fallen trees can be left in place to provide shelter for cavity-nesting birds and squirrels. Insects that live in the rotting wood will also feed woodpeckers.

Provide for reproduction

Many habitat features that supply cover to wildlife also provide places where the creatures can mate and bear and raise their young, the wildlife federation says. Mature trees, meadows, prairies, wetlands, dead trees, dense shrubs, thickets and water gardens all support wildlife reproduction.

You can also help nature along by providing nesting boxes and houses, which often double as shelters from the cold in winter for birds and squirrels, Emmert said.

You can buy nesting boxes or build them. A box should be constructed of untreated wood and designed for the species you want to attract. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has guidance on nesting boxes at http://tinyurl.com/nestingbox.

Supply food

We often think of feeding wildlife in terms of filling bird feeders or setting out corn, but one of the best ways to provide food is just to plant things the critters like to eat, the National Wildlife Federation says.

Shrubs, trees and flowering plants supply foods such as berries, nuts and nectar that help a variety of wildlife thrive. The wildlife federation recommends choosing native plants, because they’re adapted to your area’s conditions and usually need little care. They’re also in sync with the natural cycles of the area and provide the foods native wildlife need at the time those creatures need them.

When those natural food sources are scarce, the federation recommends providing supplemental food. Not all wildlife experts agree, however. Some note that supplemental feeding isn’t necessary and can encourage wildlife to become a nuisance.

“There’s a lot of argument out there on how much animals depend on subsidized feeding,” Emmert said. Wildlife usually can find other sources of food if humans don’t provide them, she said, but she believes feeding the creatures does them a favor, especially when the weather is bad.

If you choose to provide supplemental food, Emmert recommended buying good-quality birdseed mixes or wildlife mixes containing nuts and berries. Peanuts are a good choice, she said, because many animals like them and they provide needed fat and protein.

Shop at feed stores and shops specializing in bird feeding, Emmert suggested. She recommended avoiding big-box stores, which may sell inferior food.

Keep feeders full and as clean as possible, Emmert said. If you’ll be away from home for an extended time, she said it’s a good idea to take the feeder down, “but don’t lose sleep if you’re on vacation and the feeder runs out.”

Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mbbreck, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckenridge and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.

The location was prime. The clientele was select. The product was choice.

Unfortunately, the business just didn’t cut it.

The Portage Packing Co. was a meat-processing plant at Merriman Road and Portage Path in what is now known as the Merriman Valley in Akron. Although the company didn’t last long, it left behind a landmark building that still stands. Few people would recognize it as a former slaughterhouse.

Company founders promoted the new business in 1917 as a lead-pipe cinch for stockholders, “a safe, conservative investment — the kind a man can honestly recommend to his best friend.”

Akron was a growing city of 150,000 voracious consumers who would always demand meat for three square meals a day, organizers explained. The business would cater to 300,000 people in a 30-mile radius around the city.

“You eat meat, your neighbor eats meat, practically everybody eats meat,” the company noted in its stock offering. “And when they do, they are increasing the demand of the packing company. If you have stock in a packing company, you don’t need to worry as to whether or not the public will support it. They must, if they expect to live.”

Capital stock sold for $25 a share (about $380 today). When the business opened in 1918, it would be “one of the best equipped and most modern packing plants in the country.”

The company’s officers, all “trained, practical men,” were John R. Bliss, president; Irvin R. Renner, vice president; Clyde S. Burgner, secretary; and W.C. Crow, treasurer. They predicted “a brilliantly successful future” with “handsome profits for all shareholders.”

Choosing a site

They selected a construction site on the outskirts of Akron along the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad near Old Portage, the north terminus of the ancient trail where Indians carried their canoes between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers.

The three-story, brick-and-concrete building had 38,000 square feet of floor space and walls that were 2 feet thick plus 8 inches of cork insulation.

“We know positively that as soon as the ‘first pig squeals,’ it will be the signal for the stock to advance,” the company advertised.

Work began in earnest near the end of World War I. Portage Packing had the capacity to slaughter and dress 5,000 hogs, 1,200 cattle and “proportionate numbers” of sheep, lambs and calves each week. “Akron-killed in a modern plant,” the company boasted.

Byproducts included hide for leather, hair for upholstery and bones for fertilizer and glue. Poultry, eggs and dairy products also were handled using “the latest sanitary methods.”

Shareholders voted to increase the company’s capital stock from $250,000 to $500,000, and then doubled it again to $1 million.

For about three years, the plant produced fresh and cured meats for butcher shops in Summit County. Then a series of misfortunes struck.

In 1920, trade journal United States Investor published an item that questioned the value of the Akron company’s stock.

“Very little appears to be known about Portage Packing Co.,” the journal wrote. “It has marketed its own stock for some time past, in a rather, unsatisfactory manner, and we would advise leaving it alone.”

In 1921, the business became enmeshed in a fake securities plot in which a Chicago gang flooded the U.S. market with $10 million in bogus stocks, forged certificates and stolen bonds from more than 30 companies, including $50,000 in fake notes from Portage Packing. Investors fled the company in droves.

The timing was terrible, because the company already was reeling from the Depression of 1920-21. Wholesale prices plunged, and unemployment surged.

Portage Packing limped along for another year or so before falling into receivership, bringing an abrupt end to the former lead-pipe cinch. The assets were auctioned off for $309,000 in 1923.

Other uses for building

A Cuyahoga Falls farmer turned the former slaughterhouse into a mushroom-growing nursery in the late 1920s, but the enterprise failed. A potato dealer wanted to use the building as a spud warehouse, but the deal fell through.

For 15 years, the abandoned building stood dark and desolate, looking like an ancient ruin. Vandals smashed its windows and ripped down doors. Trees grew out of the roof.

Albert L. Denney, a driver for Jones Van & Storage, bought the old plant for $3,500 in 1946, cleaned up the debris, installed new windows and remodeled the structure as a warehouse. He leased the first floor to Aster Meats, stored furniture on the second floor and used the third floor for general storage.

In 1956, Denney sold the building for $75,000 to Dickson Moving & Storage, which operated the warehouse into the 1960s. Dream House Furniture later assumed ownership, but abandoned the place in the 1970s.

The building was vacant for a few years until developer Steve Botnick and his father, Irving, saw its true potential. In 1979, they decided to convert it into a health club.

The RiverParke office and recreation complex opened in 1981 following a $3.1 million renovation, which included the addition of a fourth floor. Vic Tanny International, a Detroit health-club chain, leased the building, which included a swimming pool, running track, racquetball courts, steam bath, dry sauna, whirlpool, showers, aerobic dancing rooms, exercise equipment and separate gymnasiums for men and women.

Vic Tanny sold out to Scandinavian Health Spa in the early 1980s. Besides being a place to work out, Scandinavian developed a reputation as a spot where singles could mingle. It was a popular spot to meet men or women. Some people jokingly called it “a meat market.” If they only knew the building’s origins!

Scandinavian gave way to Bally’s, which operated the spa for more than 20 years. Following another remodeling, RPFitness moved into the building in 2005, and it’s been there ever since.

The former Portage Packing Co. is still packing them in, tending to a select clientele at a prime location.

Customers prefer to order lean cuts.

Beacon Journal copy editor Mark J. Price is the author of The Rest Is History: True Tales From Akron’s Vibrant Past, a book from the University of Akron Press. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

This Week

Friday

Pizza Oven Charities 2013 Kickoff Event — 7 p.m. at the Canton Civic Center, 1101 Market Ave N., Canton. Pizza, music and dancing, sponsored by the DiPietro Family. Provides clothes for area schoolchildren through the Ex-Newsboys Association. $20. 330-494-0886.

Saturday

Believe in the Cure Kickoff Event — 5 p.m. at Church of Our Savior, 471 Crosby St., Akron. Speakers are Dr. Joseph Flynn of the James Cancer Center OSU Medical Center, and Dr. Nick Parasson of Summit Natural Wellness Center. Jann Klose Band will perform. Silent auction, 50/50 raffle, Greek food, spirits and more to benefit cancer research and education. $50. www.believeinthecure.org.

Deadline

The Arc of Stark County Grape Possibilities Wine Tasting and Auction — 5:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at the Canton Civic Center’s McKinley Room, 1101 Market Ave. N., Canton. Wine, food and a silent auction. $45, $60 platinum. The Arc supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and professionals who serve them. Reservations due by Friday; call 330-492-5225 or go to www.arcstark.org.

Send information about social and charity events to The Scene, c/o Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309. Or email lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com with ‘‘The Scene’’ in the subject line. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance. Merits of all organizations have not been investigated by the Beacon Journal, so potential donors should verify the worthiness of a cause before committing.

The Ohio Third Frontier recently invested $3 million in a multi-million dollar initiative by Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center to boost medical-related economic development in Northeast Ohio.

The goal of the venture “is to provide a professionally managed, pre-seed fund that will help advance commercialization of discoveries that include medical technology related to imaging; surgical instruments/equipment; implant devices and degenerative medicine; business and health-care software; advanced materials; and fuel cell and energy storage technologies,” according to a news release.

The Case Technology and University Hospitals Ventures Fund (CTUHV Fund) also is getting $2 million from Case Western Reserve and $1 million from the medical center.

The CTUHV Fund plans to invest in 12 new companies by providing “pre-seed funding,” according to a news release.

In a statement, Stephen Behm, director of technology management at UH Case Medical Center, said the fund will be used to help bring health-care discoveries at the medical center to market.

Diet ratings

Trying to stick to that New Year’s resolution to lose weight?

According to an article in Consumer Reports magazine, a free smart phone app called MyFitnessPal and the Weight Watchers program score highest for consumer satisfaction.

The article — published in the February edition of Consumer Reports and available online at www.consumerreports.org — included the results from a survey of more than 9,300 readers who rated 13 diet plans.

Among the do-it-yourself diet plans that were rated, MyFitnessPal received the highest overall patient satisfaction, with top scores for allowing a variety of foods and encouraging calorie awareness, exercise and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Weight Watchers ranked highest among readers for consumer plans, earning top marks for maintenance, calorie awareness and food variety.

However, readers told Consumer Reports they lost more weight on the Medifast program than other diet plans rated by the magazine. Typical reported weight loss on Medifast was 20 to 43 pounds for men and 14 to 40 pounds for women.

Sledding safety

Don’t let a trip down a snowy hill end with a trip to the ER.

Each year, an estimated 20,820 children are injured while sledding, according to research from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

The pediatric hospital shared these tips for a fun but safe sledding experience:

• Make sure children are dressed warmly with gloves and boots.

• Wear a multi-sport or bicycle helmet to prevent head injuries.

• Consider using a sled rather than flat sheets, snow discs and toboggans, which are harder to steer.

• Have an adult with children when they go sledding.

• Avoid sledding in areas with trees, fences and light poles or on rocky hills.

• Go down the hill feet first.

• Teach children to stop and turn by using their feet.

• Limit the passengers on the sled to the recommended number.

• Don’t sled in the street or on driveways and hills that end in the street or in a parking lot, river or pond.

• Never ride a sled pulled by a car, ATV, snowmobile or other motorized vehicle.

• Only use snow tubes in tubing parks.

Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/abjcherylpowell.

The latest sign of Akron Children’s Hospital’s growth is sprouting in downtown Akron.

Construction is under way on a 1,250-space parking garage across from the hospital’s campus on West Exchange Street.

The parking garage, which is expected to open in September, is part of a massive $200 million expansion planned for the pediatric hospital’s main campus.

Hospital officials are finalizing design details for an $180 million, six-floor tower, which will house a new emergency department, ambulatory surgery center and neonatal intensive-care unit.

Design work is scheduled to be completed in March, with construction of the new tower beginning shortly afterward, Children’s Chief Operating Officer Grace Wakulchik said Monday. The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2015.

“We are on track,” she said. “Things are going very well. We’re getting a lot of good feedback from our clinicians and families that are working with us.”

For several months, Children’s has been inviting doctors, nurses, other staff and patient families to join design workshops inside donated warehouse space in Green.

Life-sized walls made from sturdy cardboard have been providing mock versions of the new facility that staff and families can try and test before architectural drawings are finalized and real walls are constructed.

The resulting design includes an ER on the first floor, which spans nearly two stories; an outpatient surgery center on the third floor; and an expanded NICU on the sixth and seventh floors.

The fourth and fifth floors initially will be shelled while the hospital determines the best use for the additional space, Wakulchik said.

The addition will be connected to the existing hospital on the third floor.

Office workers who had been located in hospital-owned buildings on Locust Street that are scheduled for demolition to make way for the addition are being moved to the Cedar Pines facility on Cedar Street, she said.

The parking garage under construction will have a connector bridge to the new tower when the facility opens in two years, said Lin Gentile, the hospital’s vice president for professional and support services. In the meantime, the spaces will be used for employee parking.

The garage will have six levels for parking, as well as a basement level for ambulances.

Children’s is seeking at least $50 million in donations to pay for the project, according to hospital officials. The rest is being funded through borrowing and hospital reserves.

The hospital also plans to raise $10 million to help Ronald McDonald House expand.

Gentile said Children’s is kicking off its fundraising campaign with administrators and physicians.

Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/abjcherylpowell.

WASHINGTON: Total U.S. health care spending hit $2.7 trillion in 2011, making for a three-year run of record-low annual spending growth after the onset of the Great Recession.

The roughly 3.9 percent increase in public and private health expenditures for 2011 was nearly identical to the rates of growth in 2009 and 2010. They represent the three lowest annual growth rates in the 52 years the data has been kept, according to a report Monday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The slower growth resulted from a mix of trends, including a decline in federal public health spending and slower growth in private health insurance premiums — 3.8 percent.

These trends offset an increase in 2011 in the use of personal health care goods and services as the economy continued to rebound and private health insurance enrollment stabilized after three years of major declines, said Micah Hartman, a federal statistician who co-authored the report.

In fact, spending for physician and clinical services rose 4.3 percent in 2011, up from a 3.1 percent increase in 2010 as the use and intensity of services increased.

The Affordable Care Act, which critics refer to as “Obamacare,” had a minimal effect on health spending in 2011 because its main provisions — mandatory coverage and state health insurance exchanges — don’t take effect until 2014, Hartman said.

Overall, spending for medical care reached $2.7 trillion, or roughly $8,680 per person in 2011, up from $2.6 trillion, or $8,417 per person, in 2010. The share of the economy devoted to health care in 2011 remained stable, at 17.9 percent of gross domestic product.

The period of slower growth in health spending has been fueled mainly by the loss of job-based health coverage.

From 2007 to 2010, private health insurance enrollment fell by 11.2 million customers, and the number of uninsured increased by 7 million. Numerous studies have shown that people seek less medical care when they have no insurance.

Three years of uniform growth rates hide the fact that certain areas of medical spending grew while others declined. For instance, prescription drug spending increased nearly 3 percent in 2011, compared with a 0.4 percent increase in 2010, as prices rose for brand-name and costly specialty drugs that treat rare and complex conditions.

Spending for Medicare, which accounted for 21 percent of U.S. health spending in 2011, reached $554 billion that year. That’s a 6.2 percent increase over 2010, which saw a 4.3 percent spending hike from 2009. Medicare’s 2011 spending increase was due mainly to a one-time increase in nursing home payments, faster growth in spending for doctors’ services and higher spending for Medicare Advantage.

WASHINGTON: Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.

Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer.

“There has been clear progress,” said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer advocacy groups.

But bad diets, lack of physical activity and obesity together wield “incredible forces against this decline in mortality,” Brawley said. He warned that over the next decade, that trio could surpass tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in the U.S.

Overall, deaths from cancer began slowly dropping in the 1990s, and Monday’s report shows the trend holding. Among men, cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent a year between 2000 and 2009, and by 1.4 percent a year among women. The drops are thanks mostly to gains against some of the leading types — lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers — because of treatment advances and better screening.

The news isn’t all good. Deaths still are rising for certain cancer types including liver, pancreatic and, among men, melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer.

Preventing cancer is better than treating it, but when it comes to new cases of cancer, the picture is more complicated.

Cancer incidence is dropping slightly among men, by just over half a percent a year, said the report published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers all saw declines.

But for women, earlier drops have leveled off, the report found. That may be due in part to breast cancer. There were decreases in new breast cancer cases about a decade ago, as many women quit using hormone therapy after menopause. Since then, overall breast cancer incidence has plateaued, and rates have increased among black women.

Another problem area: Oral and anal cancers caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, are on the rise among both genders. HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer, and a protective vaccine is available. Government figures show just 32 percent of teen girls have received all three doses, fewer than in Canada, Britain and Australia. The vaccine was recommended for U.S. boys about a year ago.

Among children, overall cancer death rates are dropping by 1.8 percent a year, but incidence is continuing to increase by just over half a percent a year. Brawley said it’s not clear why.

Bow Tie Marinara With Goat Cheese

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 tsp. minced garlic

3 cups marinara sauce

1 lb. bow tie pasta (farfalle)

6 oz. goat cheese, plus more for garnish

2 green onions, finely chopped

Heat olive oil in large skillet or Dutch oven. Lightly brown minced garlic but watch carefully so it doesn’t burn. Add the marinara sauce and simmer for 30 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, cook pasta according to package directions for al dente pasta. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Add goat cheese and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring until cheese is melted and incorporated. Stir in green onions and serve immediately with goat cheese crumbles on top, if desired.

Serves about 6.

Source: http://familyfoodie.com

— Tampa Bay Times

The Akron Beacon Journal will publish a list of Lenten fish fries in the Food section on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13.

This list will appear in the newspaper just once, so readers should clip it out and save it. The list will be available online at www.ohio.com throughout the season.

Please submit information in this format: name of organization, address, date or dates of fish fry, hours served, brief menu description and prices. Include a phone number the public can call to order fish or ask questions. Also include a name and contact phone number for the person submitting the information.

All information must be received by noon Feb. 7 to guarantee publication. Mail to:

Lenten Fish Fry

Food Page

c/o Akron Beacon Journal

44 E. Exchange St.

P.O. Box 640

Akron, OH 44309-0640

Or drop off at the Beacon Journal offices; or email to labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.

No phone calls, please.

The idea is pretty simple: People who are interested in food get together to eat, drink and talk about food.

As new ideas go, mark this one down as highly successful.

The Countryside Conservancy sponsored its first mixer Monday, and plenty of folks showed up to take part in the conversation, which was as varied as those having it.

I chatted with two goat farmers, a cheese maker, people who run local farmers markets, and a bunch of others who just like to eat. We talked about topics ranging from our favorite cooking magazines, to juice fasts, to our thoughts on this season’s premiere of Downton Abbey.

The dozens who turned out for the mixer filled the entire bar area at Crave, the downtown Akron restaurant.

It was a gratifying sight for Darwin Kelsey, the conservancy’s executive director. In 1999, he began efforts with a goal of returning acreage in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park back to farmland.

At that time, the idea of encouraging small farm growth and the local production of food was on the fringe. What a difference a decade can make.

“There really has been a cultural change,” Kelsey said. “Back in 1999, a meeting like this would not have been workable.”

Now the local food movement has gathered enough public support and interest that local pioneers, like Kelsey, are convinced it is here to stay. “We can believe that it will happen,” he said.

But getting folks interested in producing food locally is only half of the equation. The other half is getting the community interested in buying it, building the demand side to match the growing supply side.

That’s part of what the mixers are about, Kelsey explained: getting people interested in the conversation who aren’t part of the producers’ side of the local food movement.

Monday’s mixer attracted plenty of producer types: Cindy and Terry Smith of Goatfeathers Point Farm, who raise goats and turkeys; Sally Ohle of Summit Croissants; and Kevin and Kristyn Henslee who operate the new Yellow House Cheese in Seville.

The Henslees recently began raising a herd of 40 sheep to produce aged sheep’s milk blue cheese.

As Julie Wandling Costell, owner of Miss Julie’s Kitchen vegan eatery in Akron, put it: “I like meeting new people, making connections. The more cool stuff they do, the more cool stuff I can do.”

But there were others too, like Gus Poplus of Akron, who described himself as “an eater” who came with friends just to enjoy the conversation.

For those who are interested in food even just as a pastime, the conversation was varied enough to offer everyone something to chew on.

The conservancy is hosting the mixers the first Monday of every month at 7 p.m. at Crave, 57 E. Market St., downtown Akron. They are free and open to the public. Appetizers are provided, and there is a cash bar. The next meeting is Feb. 4.

Kelsey said his only concern at this point, as he looked around the crowded bar, is whether they’ll have to look for a larger meeting space. That’s a good problem to have.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

Fishers Foods, North Canton, 440-729-1110, http://www.lpscinc.com.

Pastry in a Pinch, with Chef Stefanie Paganini, 6 p.m. Thursday. $45.

Chocolate Fix, with Chef Stefanie Paganini, 6 p.m. Tuesday. $45.

I Can’t Cook: Fish, with Chef Stefanie Paganini, 6 p.m. Jan. 24. $50.

Michaels craft store, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-929-2012.

Wilton cake-decorating classes, $22.50 each; call for times.

Quirk Cultural Center, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-971-8425

Indian Cooking, 7-9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Registration fee: $3 resident/$5 nonresident. Class fee: $30.

Today’s Kitchen Store, Wooster, 330-601-1331, http://www.todayskitchenstore.com.

Biscuits and Scones, with Jennifer McMullen, 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday. $24.

From Mix to Masterpiece, with Julie Starr, 6-7:30 p.m. Jan. 17. $20.

African Teas, with Susan Heady, 10-11:30 a.m. Jan. 19. $22.

Gourmet Peanut Butter for 6- to 8-year-olds, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 21. $18.

Gourmet Peanut Butter for 9- to 13-year-olds, 5-6:30 p.m. Jan. 25. $20.

Western Reserve School of Cooking, Hudson, 330-650-1665, http://www.wrsoc.com.

Better Fast Food: Focus on the Wok, Large Skillet and Pressure Cooker, with Betty Shewmon, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sunday. $75.

5-Day Intensive Bread Clinic, with Kathy Lehr, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 21-25. $595.

Slow Cooking When You Are On the Go, with Betty Shewmon, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Jan. 27. $75.

Techniques & Theory of Cooking Part I: Salt and Water, with Catherine St. John, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Jan. 29. $60.

Q.: I read somewhere a while ago that when storing oranges and grapefruits, you keep one in the refrigerator and the other you don’t. Which is it? My son brought me a big bag of each from Florida and I want to keep them fresh.

— Fran Cramer

Kent

A.: Store citrus — any kind — on the counter for five days to a week, if you think you will consume it by then. If not, keep it in the refrigerator to keep it fresher longer.

Since you’ve been given a large gift of fruit, it sounds like you will need to make some room in the fridge for it.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com. Find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter @akronfoodie or visit my blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/lisa.

The Food Lover’s Healthy Habits Cookbook, by the editors of Cooking Light magazine (Oxmoor House, $24.95), offers more than 250 recipes paired with lifestyle changes and a 12-month plan for carrying them out.

A solid how-to for people seeking a healthier lifestyle, the emphasis here is on cooking at home and incorporating more fruits, vegetables and grains into your diet.

Cooking techniques and introductions to potentially unfamiliar ingredients, such as edamame (soybeans) and the ancient grain farro, are peppered with recipes for dishes such as oatmeal pancakes, the Middle Eastern red pepper dip called muhammara and cinnamon-laced beef tagine with butternut squash.

— Michele Kayal

Associated Press