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Posts Tagged ‘Jamestown’

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One Moment, Please.

In Dayton Ohio News, Entertainment, Environment, Health, history, Local News, National News, Opinion, Uncategorized on February 24, 2023 at 7:02 am

Deer In Headlines

By Gery L. Deer

It’s been said that times change, but moments don’t. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a moment as an indefinitely short period of time or particular occasion. In life, a moment generally represents an instant we can’t get back, one that we either cherish or regret, depending on its personal significance. Together, the moments we experience weave an intricate tapestry of our past, a delicate collage unique to each of us.

A single moment in life can challenge us forever, define us in completely new terms, open doors, or close the path to opportunities. It can be simultaneously life-changing and heartbreaking, glorious yet gut-wrenching.

We usually take those moments for granted, even when we should be paying more attention. Sadly, we are rarely given advance notice of the importance of any given moment. When a moment in life truly changes us and alters our perception, it’s usually either joyful or tragic, forever burned into our memory and our psyche.

Young children may be the luckiest of us because they live in the moment, constantly meeting the world with new wonder. Even if they don’t appreciate its significance, they experience every minute, the “now,” with unaware abandon. Unfortunately, maturity sometimes robs us of that wonder, replacing it instead with the day-to-day problems of life.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if we could manage to slow time a bit, live more in the moment like kids, and better recognize the meaning and noteworthiness of one instant? As adults, the trick is first to recover the childlike vision that may have faded. Then we have to learn how to recognize the significance of a mere instant in the whole of our lives.

As they whiz past, like blurry telephone poles along the highway, recognition becomes increasingly difficult. But, while trying to capture the most important moments, we may completely miss them because we’re too busy trying to get a video of it on our mobile devices.

This big, bright, world is presented live, in 3-D, and high definition. Still, we stare through artificial eyes at a 3-inch screen in awe of the events unfolding before us. Unfortunately, while we’re trying to capture a digital memory, we’re missing the nuance of the moment. Genuinely seminal moments deserve our full attention.

It reminds me of people who are constantly snapping pictures during a fireworks display or their child’s school play. I get wanting a quick photo or video clip. But holding the phone up the entire time to watch through a screen minimizes the importance of the moment. Personally, if I’m there, I want to experience and appreciate what’s going on right in front of me.

With all their attention focused on some gadget, they miss the “IRL” visuals, the sounds, the reactions of those around them, and, most importantly, the company. These are meaningful, shared moments that will never come again. By the way, if you’re not up on your text-speak, IRL means “In Real Life.”

Staying in the present can be hard, no matter what we’re doing. A moment cannot be measured on a stopwatch or added as a calendar event. It’s here, you’re in it, then it’s gone, all at once. It’s up to each one of us to determine what it means, hopefully during but, at least after we have experienced it. We all have our own values system for guidance.

So the question remains, how do we create more mindful awareness in our daily lives? How do we appreciate those life-altering moments as they happen? I suppose I could just spout the same stuff you’d find if you Google all the self-help gurus. They’re going to say to do things like slow down, meditate, eat healthier, exercise, take in nature, put away your technology, and so on. There is certainly a place for all that. We should probably be doing all those things anyway.

Instead, I will only say this, paraphrasing one of the prolific producer Norman Lear’s television theme songs. “This is it, this is life, the one you get, so go and have a ball.” And it’s fine to snap a photo, but remember to be in the moment. Be present, put away all the tech, and experience life – IRL.

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The Fork in the Road

In Children and Family, Dayton Ohio News, Health, history, Local News, Opinion, sociology, Uncategorized on February 17, 2023 at 8:31 am

Deer In Headlines II

By Gery Deer

It’s been said, probably so often as to be cliche, that life is a journey. In my opinion, it’s one with no map and very little direction. Almost from the moment we’re born, when other human beings are making decisions for us, our path is dictated by a series of directional cues. We are constantly confronted with forks in the road, a seemingly endless succession of them. We encounter one after another, each outcome depending on whether we turn left, right, or stay the course. 

With every decision comes an alternate reality, like you’re in a plot-your-own adventure story or the biological component of some if-then-else loop in a logic program. How you proceed is determined by the results of the choices you’ve made. Too bad there isn’t some kind of warning when we go the wrong way, like that irritating buzzer when you touch the sides in a game of Operation. I never could get the funny bone out!

Sometimes figuring out how to make those choices can be pretty fuzzy. That’s especially true when your life is filled with obstacles almost from the moment you leave your mother’s womb. That’s how it was for me. 

I rarely discuss this, but I was born with a long list of birth defects, ranging from hip and pelvic issues to major organ complications. I no sooner hit the air than I was suddenly popped into an isolation crib and studied like a bug in a jar, it even had air holes in it! 

When those forks in the road have “No Outlet” signs on pretty much every option, your previously endless choices are quickly reduced to none. My parents were faced with exactly that situation. They were told from the beginning to be prepared for a long fight. Every decision determined the path of my treatment, some successful, some not so much. Everything about my situation was new, experimental, and risky. 

Young Gery Deer, 1967, in an isolation crib at Grandview Hospital.

I remember my Dad telling me a story about the doctor coming out to see him after I had been moved to a children’s hospital and examined more thoroughly. At the onset, the prognosis was uncertain, to say the least. 

Dad was sitting alone in the waiting room and my mother was still at the hospital across town where I’d been born. Although the overall birth was routine, given my issues, they wanted to keep her there longer. So there he was, my Dad, a strong, hard-working man who hadn’t made a decision without my mother since he was 18 years old, now alone, scared, and exhausted. 

The doctor appeared from the exam area and sat down next to my father to explain the situation as clearly and thoroughly as he could. All estimates were that I wouldn’t walk, I would have lifelong physical and possibly mental debilitation, and, because of the likelihood of infection and limited treatment options, they shouldn’t expect me to survive beyond the age of 5.

Visibly shaken, Dad must have looked like his world was caving in around him. The doctor put a hand on his shoulder and said, plainly, “How much faith do you have?” My father’s response was true to his character – “How much do I need?” Put more simply, what Dad said was, “Let’s do this!”

That was the path Dad and Mom chose, the road they headed down. For them, there was no other choice and they didn’t go tentatively but with the gas pedal on the floor and in high gear. As predicted, it was a long fight, and there were countless surgeries and procedures into my twenties, one experiment after another. But, as you can see, I made it past age 5, by a half-century, actually. 

And I’m here and able to share this story because my parents made choices in extraordinary circumstances of a kind I can’t even fathom but for which I will be forever grateful. Before my parents died, I had to make very similar kinds of life-changing decisions for their care as they had made for me. The moral of all of this story is that your journey isn’t complete and the only one who can really choose the correct path for you is you!

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Old Endings and New Beginnings

In Local News, Media, Opinion, Uncategorized on February 10, 2023 at 10:25 am

Deer In Headlines 2

By Gery Deer

Can you believe it’s already February of 2023? I know it’s been some time, but I’m back at the op-ed desk – although I have no idea for how long. This time around, my column has a different title and a more personal focus. I’m not sure what direction it will take, but my hope is that you find it of some use, even if all it does is give you something to think about. So, since I’m starting over here, I decided to start this new version with a very simple topic: new beginnings. At least I thought it would be simple.

What can be said about new beginnings? First, wouldn’t you have to think about the “old ending?” What came to an end and why? Is it worth leaving where it is, or does it need to be dredged up and dealt with in some new way. Who knows? All we can do is pick up where we are, decide where we want to go, and take that first step, one foot in front of the other. 

Author Mary Shelley (yes, of Frankenstein fame) once said, “The beginning is always today.” I would expand that to say, the only moment we have is this one, right here, the one you’re in now. No past, no future, just the “now.” So, “new” beginnings may not be possible since, really, it’s just the beginning of whatever comes next. 

After my father died, I felt pretty lost. We were in the middle of the pandemic, July of 2020, and I had been so immersed in his care for the months and years prior to his passing, that the direction I was taking on the other side of it wasn’t really pointing anywhere. I was getting back to work, my friends and family were trying to support me, and I was looking for anything to help me recover who I was without Dad to look after. 

When people try to reinvent themselves, often looking for that new beginning, it’s sometimes because they don’t like who they are, or were. But that wasn’t where I stood at the time. I’ve always been pretty comfortable with who I am, but, as they say, life happens and that can throw you. And thrown I was, tossed by circumstances like a cornhole bag, missing the target by a mile. 

For several months I suffered from, what I eventually learned was, depression brought on by anticipatory grief and the constant second-guessing of myself with regard to Dad’s care. Oddly, I had never experienced depression before and had a really tough time wrapping my head around the idea. Me? Depressed? Nonsense. I just couldn’t accept it. Forget a new start, I didn’t want anything to do with anyone.

That feeling was completely foreign to me. I had always powered through challenges in my life, and there have been a ton of them. At that point, however, I was hiding on a couch in my basement – so not like me. 

What did I do about it? Great question. I wish I had the ideal step-by-step guide to offer you for starting over after major changes that shake you like an 8-point quake on the Richter scale. Unfortunately, I don’t.

What I can tell you is that first, you need to figure out where you stand at the moment. Don’t think about the future, it isn’t written yet, and try very hard to let go of past baggage. You can’t fix what was and what’s to come is entirely of your own making. Your first steps will determine your path and turning left or right at the fork in the road creates your own unique reality. Whatever that reality, though, it’s yours, no one else’s. 

New beginnings happen every morning when we roll out of bed, or fall out as is my case most days. I stomp to the bathroom, look in the mirror, and wonder how that old man got my pajamas. Still, it’s a new day, a fresh start, another chance to get it right, or completely blow it. How ever it comes out, at least it’s my choice. And the choice of a new beginning can be yours too.

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GCPH to conduct community focus groups to develop a plan to address healthy eating and active living policies through HEAL grant funds.

In Local News on January 23, 2023 at 4:29 pm

XENIA, OH – Greene County was awarded a 1-year mini-grant called Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL). The focus of this grant is to build capacity for healthy eating and active living policies within various Greene County communities. The grant cycle, which runs from July 1 – June 30, will focus on the jurisdictions of Fairborn, Xenia, and Jamestown.

The first step in the process is to complete a Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Assessment, reviewing the current policies in each jurisdiction to identify gaps and opportunities. The results of the assessment will later be shared with members of the community to better understand the priorities of that community and work to develop and implement strategies that directly address those priorities. Community engagement is all about ensuring that those most impacted by challenges and inequities have an equal voice in designing and implementing solutions.

Currently, each community is conducting focus groups to explore this subject and begin to come up with a plan to implement those strategies. If you live in one of these communities, you are invited to participate in one of these free events.

Refreshments will be served at each event.

Jamestown

• January 24, 6:00pm – Jamestown Community Library, 86 Seaman Drive, Jamestown

Xenia

• January 26, 1:00pm – Xenia YMCA, 336 Progress Drive, Xenia

• January 31, 6:00pm – Xenia Community Library, 76 E. Market St., Xenia

Fairborn

• February 13, 1:00pm – Fairborn Community Library, 1 E. Main St., Fairborn

• March 1, 5:30pm – Abiding Christ Lutheran Church, 326 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn

These events are open to the residents of each community. Should you have questions about the focus groups, please contact Loressa Gonyer at lgonyer@gcph.info or call her at 937-374-5655.

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A great day to be outside.

In Local News on June 26, 2022 at 5:32 pm

This was the scene today at Shawnee Lake in Jamestown. It was a warm day of around 82 and windy, but everyone was out enjoying the lake.

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Fundraiser for Jamestown Youth Cheer April 23rd

In Local News on March 21, 2022 at 5:33 pm
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Fundraiser for Jamestown Youth Cheer April 23rd

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Greene County Blanketed In Light Flurries Friday Evening

In Local News on January 29, 2022 at 12:24 pm
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Greene County Blanketed In Light Flurries Friday Evening

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GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd. signs an industry-diverse list of new Dayton area clients.

In Local News on December 27, 2021 at 5:29 pm

December 27, 2021 – Jamestown, Ohio -GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd. (GLD (http://gldcommunications.com)), founder, and creative director, Gery Deer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerydeer/), has announced his firm has signed several new, high-profile local clients to kick-off an aggressive start to 2022. The new clientele adds to an already industry-diverse book of business that serves non-profits to mortgage lenders and launches an anniversary first quarter for the privately-held, Greene County, Ohio-based public relations and media communications firm.

http://www.gldcommunications.com


“We’re excited to be working with local organizations, which are mostly underserved by regional agencies who are often too busy trying to make a name with big, out-of-state clients,” Deer said. “Our PR and media services have a national reach, but I prefer to focus our work here at home, to maintain low overhead low and put our resources into serving the clients. I think clients deserve effective work, at a competitive cost, from a hometown agency that understands both their mission and their audience.”


As a result, GLD has turned its attention to the Dayton region, with work that varies both in industry and scope. In mid-December, the company became the public relations (PR) agency of record for the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association. The non-profit organization helps to preserve and protect the wetlands and in Greene County, Ohio region through conservation, education, recreational opportunities, and stewardship. 


Additionally, the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce has also been signed as a technology and media communications consulting client. The agency assists with media production and technology issues and will play a role in the development and production of the chamber’s annual meeting in March.


Lastly, Young’s Jersey Dairy will be a featured title sponsor on the agency’s house production, “3-2-1 PROFITS – THE PODCAST (http://321profitspodcast.com).” Dan Young and his son John will be featured as part of a 2-part premiere of the program’s second season, dropping January 15th. As part of this project, GLD will serve as a media consultant for a proposed podcast from Young’s covering agricultural and related industry topics.

GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd., was founded in 1997 by Gery L. Deer of Jamestown, Ohio, as part-time information technology and public relations firm. Less than a year later, the company had a full-time volume of sales and annual revenue that far outstripped Deer’s previous day job. Media Director Julie Barth joined the firm in 2019 to head up the audio-video department and helped to expand the firm’s capacity for full media production, including the development of several in-house productions, such as, “3-2-1 PROFITS – THE PODCAST.”

GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd.
Creative Director, Gery Deer


Thanks to its creative structure and fully-remote staff, the agency was already positioned to thrive during the pandemic and continued throughout to service and onboard new work. Deer announced this latest list of work as the company prepares to launch its 25th-anniversary celebration that will run through Q1 of 2022. The commemoration will include a series of specially-themed public relations and audio-video production packages leading up to an exclusive live event in March and the relaunch of one of the company’s original services (TBA), and a few other surprises.


For more information or to learn more about GLD Enterprises Communications, Ltd., please call 937-675-6169 or visit gldcommunications.com (http://gldcommunications.com). Full details on services and promotions through the Beavercreek Chamber of Commerce here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw7_eJBwiE8&t=36s

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Exclusive Home Technology Help available without referral only until Thanksgiving!

In Business, Economy, Education, Entertainment, Senior Lifestyle, State News, Technology, Uncategorized on November 2, 2020 at 12:42 pm

Let’s face it, home technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the last decade. The pandemic has driven even more changes no one could have predicted. Families who are still sequestered at home due to COVID-19 are increasingly dependent on the internet and all of the devices needed to make use of it. (CALL TODAY 937-675-6169)

In addition, a larger number of homes now use smart technology to manage things like security, heating and air systems, and, of course, entertainment. A typical home now has up 10 different devices connected to one wi-fi access point. Plus, more people working from home means exponentially increased requirements on bandwidth both upload and download.

If you’re having trouble with your computers, tablets, smart devices, or other internet-enabled equipment, we can help. Exclusive Home Technology Help is now available in Greene, Clinton, Montgomery, and Fayette Counties in Ohio.

We work primarily by referral, but from now until Thanksgiving 2020, you can get our exclusive, residential technology support service right to your door for as little as *$50.

EHTH works exclusively with residential clients and those with a home office. Services include: Computer Troubleshooting & Repair, Wi-Fi Signal Survey & Report, Virtual Meeting Setup Help, Home Automation Setup and Tech Support, and more.

We don’t have a website or a Facebook page. Why? Because every extra will cost you, the consumer, in paying our overhead costs. We have a landline phone number and an email address. Leave a message and someone will return your call within 24 hours. Hardware pick-up and drop-off are available for an additional charge.

SO DON’T WAIT – CALL TODAY! 937-675-6169! After Thanksgiving, you can’t get our services without a referral from an existing customer!

**Referral bonus: If you refer someone who ends up using our services, you’ll receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card!

*Starting service fee is $50 and then $35 for each additional hour.

**Referral Bonus applies to referred client spending a minimum of $150.

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Former Greene County agriculture teacher, trucker, Gary Deer, Sr., dead at 87

In Children and Family, Dayton Ohio News, obituary on July 2, 2020 at 5:35 am

Gary Deer Sr., of Jamestown, Ohio, passed away July 1st at the age of 87. Gary is pictured here with younger son Gery and their 1967 International 1600 show truck at the 2019 Caesar’s Ford Summerfest. Photo Courtesy Greene County Parks & Recreation.

Some people are farmers or mechanics. Others are truckers or teachers. Still more are welders and masons. Gary Deer, Sr., of Jamestown, Ohio, was all of those things – and more. Born and raised at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in the tiny village of Hanging Rock, Ohio, he came north in 1951 with his wife Lois in search of a better life. Gary passed away on July 1, 2020, at the age of 87 after a long battle with complications from Parkinson’s disease. This story, though, isn’t about how he died, but how he lived. 

When he first came to Dayton, Gary got a job at AT&T but went on to work nearly 20 years as a machinist with NCR. Gary and Lois raised two children, Gary, Jr., and Cathy, in Fairborn, before settling in 1977 on a small farm outside Jamestown where their younger son, Gery, grew up.

Gary was the original master of the “side hustle,” as it’s known today, making a lifelong career of creatively applying his skills and talents to support his family. Over the years, he hauled scrap iron, worked on cars, drove trucks, and poured concrete. 

In the late 1960s, Gary became a teacher of vocational agriculture and heavy equipment mechanics at the Greene County Joint Vocational School (now the Greene County Career Center). The position included advising students in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) and his teaching style and fatherly image created a fierce loyalty and respect from them, many of whom became lifelong family friends. 

But to many, he may be best known as the “Sawdust Man,” because he started hauling sawdust in 1961 under the name “Gary Deer & Son,” updated to “Sons” when Gery came along. The business is still operated today by Gary, Jr., and supplies sawdust for bedding to some of the most prominent stables and dairies in the area, including Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Gary never forgot what it was like to grow up with nothing. He and his family always worked to help others, sponsoring families at Christmas, giving to various charities, and helping out those around them however they could. (Read the story about the Deer family’s Christmas philanthropy, now free from Amazon Kindle – “A Special Place at a Special Time” by Gery Deer)

His family kept him as active as possible in his later years, hanging out with the family band, The Brothers & Co., or attending car shows with their 1967 International show truck. He was a weekly regular at the Antioch Wellness Center where he continued his physical therapy to help maintain his strength and mobility as his Parkinson’s advanced.

“We should all try to remember how those we’ve lost stay with us; not from “things” they leave behind, but in how they made us who we are, like a tapestry of life experiences,” younger son, Gery, shared. “Dad taught me self-reliance but more than that, he will be with me every time I feel like giving up – because he never did. He showed me, by example, how to use every skill and talent I have to provide for myself and my family.”

“When I look back later at what I’ve written and documented through photos and videos about my time looking after him, I want to be reminded of what mattered most. Not how he died, but how he lived. He was never perfect, but he was always there. And I guess, in my own way, he always will be. But our lives will never be the same without him. We’ll see you on the flip-side, ‘Sawdust Man.’”

Gary’s wife of 60 years, Lois, passed away in 2011 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by his three children, Gary Deer, Jr. (67), Cathy Wolf (64), and Gery Deer (52), all from the Jamestown area, and their respective spouses, Diana, Robert, and Barbara. He also leaves behind a sister, Yvonne Kay Hughes (84) of Ironton, Ohio, 5 grandchildren – Melissa Van Oss, Jessica Simmons, Jodi Castillo, Tiffany Knapp, and Henry Dill, (and their spouses), 7 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. 

SERVICES: Handled by Powers-Kell Funeral Home (WEBSITE/OBIT) Tuesday, July 7, 2020 – Public Graveside – Woodlawn Cemetery in Bowersville, Ohio.  – Viewing/Visitation 10AM / Service Starts 11AM. Followed by a Celebration Open House at Gery Deer’s home, 3604 N Lakeshore Dr., Jamestown, Ohio 45335. Call 937-675-6169 for information.

For those wishing to pay their respects from a distance, in lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in his name to the Parkinson’s Foundation or the Greene County Council on Aging. 

The Deer family would also like to thank the following people as well as countless others for their contributions during Gary’s illness and care: Julie Barth, Debra Bays, Ed Jones, Robert Wolf, Rob Simmons, Lynn Martin, Bette Byerly, Misty Myers, New Jasper Township Fire & Rescue, and Dr. Courtney Stroble. 

Check out our photo gallery of Gary from over the years.