July 19 offered a gorgeous mid-summer evening, perfect for some Perry League T-ball fun.
The gathering kicked off as usual with a lineup of kids on the third-base line. At this early point in the evening, most kids are excited to participate. Some assume the pose of a competitive race runner: front toe on the third-base line, back leg stretched into a low squat, anxiously awaiting the whistle’s blow. Others are more interested in the line chalk at their feet, and inevitably begin blurring said line with said feet.
With the blow of Coach Yunus’s whistle, the young athletes were off to the fence on the far side of the field. Once the children reach the fence, warm-ups begin with instructions to stretch arms and find air — as opposed to touching your neighbor — then to circle arms, then touch toes, and then some side stretches.
Warm-ups progress on to a tradition remaining from Coach Jimmy days: A rendition of “head, shoulders, knees, toes.” This sing-song exercise requires kids to use their listening ears and attention paid to finding the correct body part. The exercise repeats six or seven times, increasing in pace — head, shoulders, knees, toes, knees and toes, over and over, until kids and adult helpers inevitably get out of synch and are smiling and giggling with the silliness of it all. Coach Yunus then asks kids to become their favorite animal and crawl, slither or fly, mimicking their chosen animal — an incredibly cute spectacle to watch. Then it’s back to the diamond, where some make a mad dash to the batting bench and others meander onto the playing field.
Marty, 6, joined us for the first time this season. When it was his turn to hit, Marty selected one of the small wooden bats and contemplated his choice thoughtfully saying, “Let me see, I used to be good at this …” He flipped the little wooden bat from one end to the other several times before abandoning it and going with a more age-appropriate bat, the flame bat. Marty proved his Perry League experience with a nice hit and run of the bases.
Another one of our seasoned T-ballers, Henry, 7, informed us that he also plays minor league at that field, not this field, that one over there, pointing to the baseball diamond toward the east. Henry was sporting a lightning bolt shirt that certainly empowered his swing.
We love the batting bench chatter! Jeremiah, 6, commented that he was changing his name to Lucas. Curiosity got to us, so we probed for more detail. Turns out YouTube has a children’s education program his little 4-year-old brother, Jordan, really enjoys. From what we gathered, the show includes a character named Lucas. Sweet Jeremiah said that since Jordan loves Lucas, changing his name will make Jordan happy.
Another conversation while waiting to bat was with Josey, 6, who told us about her upcoming family vacation. She’s excited to gather with her cousins, one of whom is her age; the other cousin is the same age as her brother, Miles. The family has not been all together for a long time, and it’s going to be a reunion, she shared.
Indie told us about her seventh birthday party. The gathering was at the pool, and there was lightning. Very expressive Indie told us: “Actually, everyone had to get out of the pool, but it didn’t stop anyone from having a good time!” Way to look on the bright side, Indie!
Ender, 6, considered the bats on the ground in the batting area. He wasn’t finding quite the right one, so he went deeper and strode over to the Perry League duffel bag-o-supplies and rooted around for a few seconds. Then he stood up with the patriotic red, white and blue bat declaring, “Here’s my bat!” Later Ender and sidekick Henry were seen stealing home. Literally. They ran up to home plate and ran away with the tee as Coach Yunus laughed and shook his head.
Stevie, 4, smiling as usual, let us know she is happy to be Coach Becky’s neighbor.
Ember, 5, shared this is probably her last week of T-ball because next week is a big week: Her family is going to Kings Island and canoeing. A first for both experiences and she knows she will be too tired to come to T-ball and the final week’s potluck. We hope she has a blast with the new and exciting adventures next week, and still finds some energy for T-ball.
J’amir and Jarell were hanging together at the batting bench and encouraged each other when it came time to bat. And Jarell was so generous to offer to spell his name for us.
Ida, 5, came to the bench with a panda stuffie she had acquired earlier that day from Ikea. Ida came to T-ball wearing a primary-colored tie-dye T-ball shirt over what we commented was a nice mermaid skirt. She was quick to lift the tie-dye to make sure we knew it was a dress. After hitting and coming into home, darling Ida let us know she likes to bat once and then join her parents to watch for the rest of the evening. We encourage family time, Ida!
Anna, sporting some chalk dust on her forehead, batted and parade-waved at her friends before running to first base. We’re your biggest fans, Anna!
Eliza, 7, came to Perry League beautifully attired in a silver and star overlaid princess dress, hot pink sneakers and a pastel Perry League tie-dye shirt to cap the ensemble off. She seemed to enjoy herself, evidenced by her sweet, shy smile.
Evelyn, 7, aka Evie, which she said is pronounced “E-V” when asked her name, as it was being recorded on our notebook. She then laid her hand on the page to have us pause so she could take a look. Evie said, “I can write cursive, well, my name and the word ‘we.’” She approved our spelling and handwriting and went on to hit the ball.
Charlotte, 5, took her time to ensure her bat selection was going to provide the result she was striving for, a big hit. Her choice, after much deliberation, was the purple bat. She confirmed to the batting coach that this was The One and smiled with her sweet gap-toothed grin as she trotted off to the tee. Later, when Charlotte came to bat again, she tried some new batting moves. Before her swing, Charlotte would grip the bottom of the bat, give it a little vertical toss-up and let it drop to catch the bat where she had held it before the toss.
Parker, 6, after taking some practice swings before batting, paused and pondered out loud: “I wonder if this is the way my grandpa swung the bat?” Before hitting, Parker randomly screamed, “Michael Jackson, baby,” whacked the ball off the tee, and ran to first base. Another time, when Parker’s friends and cousins were cheering for her, she called for her friends to be quiet with a “sshhh” so she could focus on hitting. And, in usual Parker-style, cartwheeled from third base all the way home, directly on the white chalk line.
Four-year-old Mae was very confident in her bat choice, walking directly to the caterpillar bat — it was the bat for her, without hesitation.
While waiting for her turn to bat, 8-year-old Alice shared that she will never stop coming to T-ball. After a pause, Alice further clarified, because her mom said so.
In the batting circle, Shiloh, 7, saw the two wooden stick bats on the ground and commented there should be three so she could hit with all three stick bats at the same time. She went to the bat bag and with an “A-Ha,” discovered the third bat she craved, considered the trio and then discarded them for the red bat. The process of elimination is a real thing in the batting circle.
Brothers Miko, 3, and Kai, 5, waited to bat with patience — and with patience for Coach Margi, who needed help remembering who’s who.
Friday night, we had what Coach Yunus termed “The Miles Comedy Hour.” Miles H., the older Miles, wanted to make sure he was distinguished from the other Miles, Miles B. Miles H. let us know he has not had a hair cut in the last month, but he has used hair gel. Later, he said he just wanted to hit and not run as he had a cramp. As Miles H. was waiting to hit, he spoke into the hollow bat: “Hellloooo.” And then declared, into the same bat, microphone style, “Announcing: EVERYTHING!” His preparation before batting includes martial arts moves, as demonstrated this evening with karate style chops and kicks.
Speaking of Miles, the other Miles, Miles B., 3, had a fantastic one-handed hit with the wooden stick bat that went surprisingly far into the field of play. Also, Miles B. was a very helpful Ball Returner, supporting dad David’s efforts as First Base Ball Thrower Inner. Miles was seen giving it his all by throwing two balls in over his head at once!
At halftime break, following The Popsicle Swarm, a girl-talk conversation included favorable fashion comments regarding Shiloh’s glittered cheeks and flamingo pants. Coach Becky remarked that she would like to have flamingo pants for herself, to which Shiloh flashed a look of uncertainty.
Toward the end of the evening, we saw Elsie, 5, just past first base. Wearing a pink bow in her delicate blonde hair and a heart-patterned red skirt, she was by herself having great fun covering herself with handfuls of Davenport Field dirt.
Most Improved Player of the evening goes to Harry, 3. Early in the evening, as Harry chose his bat and practiced his swing, Dad Lee was inclined to help provide guidance. As the evening progressed, Harry gained experience from observation as well as fielding and more hitting with dad’s support. Eventually, we saw Lee step back just a bit to allow Harry to move forward on his own 3-year-old terms, providing little Harry some incremental independence. We watched Harry and his dad grow in tandem. This dynamic of a child making tentative steps toward independence, and the parent releasing their little one just a little bit, is really special. It happens every week at Perry League and is really cool to witness.
Later, Mom Laryssa, was with Harry at the tee, where he was just about to swing when an airplane came into view. STOP, hold the phone! Harry lowered the bat and pointed at the plane, taking a moment to appreciate the fly over. When his attention came back to T-ball and he made his hit, Harry ran toward the pitcher’s mound in an attempt to field his own ball and was steered toward first by his parents and others helping on-field.
More incremental independence and determination was witnessed earlier at the run back from warm-ups at the fence. Roslynne, mom to Isabel, 4, and Sofia, 2, joined them for warm-ups and for the jog back to the field to start play. It was noticed that Isabel ran ahead, seeming very self-assured and confident, while little sister Sofia hung tight to mom. Last year, Isabel was in the Sofia position, orbiting mom. They grow so fast!
As we were packing up for the night, we noticed 4-year-old duo Callie and Camilla at third base with an upside-down Frisbee. The girls were making a concoction with field dirt, stirring with Popsicle sticks and very thoughtfully sifting and considering the dirt and small pebble ingredients.
That’s it for week seven!
Next Friday, July 26, is the final week of Perry League 2024, including the shortened play and cookout. If there’s interest, we’ll bring back adult T-ball at the end of the evening. Attendees are asked to bring something to share if they haven’t signed up already. Something simple and easy is fine.
Our all-volunteer program is noncompetitive, free, and open to children aged 2–9, regardless of their race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, spiritual inclination or practice, ability or disability. We meet every Friday, June through July, at Gaunt Park 6–7:30 p.m.
—Coaches Yunus Brevik and Margi and Rob Gay, and volunteer Beth Anderson
The Yellow Springs High School Class of 2004 celebrated its 20th anniversary last month with a contingent of just over a dozen class members. Those gathered were only a portion of the class, which is typical of reunions — but there were some notable absences: Among those missing were former classmates Emily Bailey, Arla Smith, Jaeceb Chima, Meghan Murphy, Martin Borchers and Lauren Goodrick, all of whom have died.
The remaining members of the class seek to honor these former classmates through the establishment of the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship fund, to be managed by the YS Community Foundation. The scholarship will be given to future graduating students who embody some of the qualities possessed by those the scholarship memorializes.
Class of 2004 member Nathania Dallas told the News last month that the idea for the scholarship fund was sparked when she was looking through the Facebook group established for the 10th anniversary in 2014 in preparation for this year’s celebration.
“And posted [in the Facebook group] was Martin Borchers’ obituary, then it was Lauren Goodrick’s, and it just made me so sad — especially because Lauren and Martin were at our 10-year reunion,” Dallas said.
As members of the Class of 2004 began planning this year’s reunion, Dallas said, she remembered that an individual scholarship fund had been established for classmate Arla Smith, who died in 2004 just before graduating. With that in mind, Dallas suggested incorporating a scholarship fund into the event.
“When you go through all of these losses, it can feel like there’s nothing you can do — but this was something we could do,” she said.
Cementing the idea for the scholarship fund was a partnership with Sole Sickness, an apparel company founded by local resident Aaron Hamilton. Dallas said she saw a fellow classmate wearing a sweatshirt from Hamilton’s apparel line that read, in stark, block letters, “IGA LAND.” The shirt made reference to the store that formerly occupied the site where Dollar General now stands on the south end of town — a reference mainly understood by longtime Yellow Springers. Dallas said she was immediately drawn to look through Sole Sickness’ entire Yellow Springs-themed catalog, which features a number of other hyper-local references.
“To go on a website and see references that are so specific to this place was just so affirming,” Dallas said. “[Hamilton] was doing such a good job of representing Yellow Springs, and I feel like the scholarship fund really is about honoring these people and giving us a way to show support for each other and bring us together, and I feel like that’s what his line does, too.”
After looking at his work — which includes a design for the 2024 All-Class Reunion, created at the request of local resident and educator Mikasa Simms — Dallas asked Hamilton to design a shirt as a benefit for the scholarship fund.
Hamilton, who spoke with the News last week, said Sole Sickness began in 2020 as a procurement company for rare sneakers, matching up potential buyers with hard-to-find footwear. In the following two years, however, he said the shoe market began to slow down, so — though he continues to sell some sneakers through Sole Sickness — Hamilton turned much of his focus to apparel and accessories. Having been born and raised in Yellow Springs and now living in Xenia, Hamilton said a connection to his own hometown seemed like a good place to start for the new direction of his business.
“I’ve always loved YS,” he said. “So instead of trying to come out with trendy graphic T-shirts to try to push out to people, I said, ‘Well, why not just think of something that’s rooted in all the places we grew up in?’”
Though Sole Sickness does sell some apparel bearing vintage graphics, the tees and hoodies in the “YSO Collection” all follow the same simple design: white block letters on a background color of the customer’s choice. The apparel line makes reference to extant locations and neighborhoods in the village, such as Gaunt Park, Miami Drive, Union Street and Omar Circle, as well as gone-but-not-forgotten venues, including Eddie’s Drive Thru, Gabby’s BBQ, Trisha Di’s, the Party Pantry and Village Lanes.
One hooded sweatshirt, reading “WEAVERS,” humorously reminds locals of the name by which some continue to refer to local grocery store Tom’s Market, despite it having changed names a couple of times in the last several decades. Another, with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek, boldly reads: “YELLOW SPRINGS VS. EVERYBODY.”
“It kind of feels like Yellow Springs versus everybody sometimes,” Hamilton said with a laugh.
Hamilton’s design for the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship T-shirt — which is also available as a hoodie, a tote bag and sticker — resembles the other items in his line, with block letters on the front reading “REPRESENT” as a testament to those in the class who have passed, and a reference to the scholarship fund on the back. All proceeds from the sale of these items will benefit the scholarship fund.
The Sole Sickness website also hosts a Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship Fund donation portal, for those who prefer to donate directly to the fund.
“[Dallas] wants to move forward with keeping me on board as someone that does the shirts every year, and we’ll continue to host the scholarship fund [donation portal],” Hamilton said.
The Class of 2004 aims to begin disbursing funds from the scholarship next year. In honor of their former classmates, Dallas said she and the rest of the Class of 2004 hope to find a student each year who “embodies the traits of our classmates,” while recognizing that all of them had different passions, goals and personalities.
“But I think the thing that each of them have in common is that community was very important to them, and they were rooted in community,” Dallas said. “So right now, the language [for the scholarship] describes a student who ‘exemplifies a commitment to community.’ If they have demonstrated an investment in community, that’s the kind of student we’re looking for.”
Of the Class of 2004’s 50-person graduating class, 13 came out for the 20th reunion, traveling from Louisiana and Maryland; various Ohio locations, including Columbus and Chagrin Falls; or from just down the street in the village. Dallas said that as she and her former classmates reminisced, they noted that some of those memorialized by the scholarship fund didn’t graduate with their class, for a variety of reasons.
The Class of 2004 didn’t have a formal yearbook, but created a scrapbook of their memories, which included a page titled “Fallen Soldiers” — that is, those who moved away from the district or left school before graduating, and those, like Arla Smith and Emily Bailey, who died before graduation. Some of those memorialized by the scholarship are included on that page.
“But you know, being a part of our class isn’t about whether or not you graduated with us — if we ever knew you, you’re in our hearts,” Dallas said. “The people we were talking about, I wish they could know we were talking about them. If you were ever a part of us, you’re always a part of us.”
To support the Class of 2004 Memorial Scholarship Fund through purchase or donation, go to solesicknessohio.com and click on “‘04 Memorial Scholarship” in the link bar at the top of the page.
By El Mele
For the past year and a half, the infamous “Bubble Man” — along with his dog, Buddy — have been adorning the streets of Yellow Springs with bubbles, peace signs and messages of positivity.
Also known as “Dugie” (no last name, at his request), the “Bubble Man” told the News in a recent interview that he started “bubbling” — riding around town on a scooter equipped with four bubble machines; a peace, love and happiness flag; and Buddy in a sling carrier — early last year. When asked what inspired him to start his bubbling vocation, he said he was looking for a way to make himself and others around him smile.
“During the COVID pandemic, I was becoming one of those people who was really angry at the world,” he said. “I bought a big leather bird mask and went out shopping in a bubble suit, because why not?”
Dugie added that, after pandemic restrictions around masking were lifted, suddenly people’s faces were visible again — but they were often “grumpy faces.”
“That’s when I thought to myself, ‘I will find a way to make people smile,’” he said.
Dugie added that, in addition to practicing meditation and breathing exercises, bubbling has also helped improve his own mentality.
“Part of it is comedy — to make people smile is almost comic relief. I’ve dressed up like Waldo before, and I have a duck costume at home I’ve been waiting to debut,” he said.
Another one of Dugie’s signatures is him throwing the peace sign at passersby.
“When I first started doing it, I would throw it so much my arm would hurt at the end of the day,” Dugie said. “Now people will throw it at me first.”
He added that the peace sign is his gesture of choice, because “nobody questions peace.”
“They all think I mean no war or no conflict, but I mean inner peace,” Dugie said. “If we all come to an understanding of peace for ourselves, conflict resolution and universal peace will follow suit.”
In addition to bubbles and peace signs, Dugie’s other signatures include mismatched knee-high tie-dye socks only found in the tie-dye booth across from US Bank at Street Fair. He pairs these with the colors of his dyed handlebar mustache.
Dugie said his journey into bubbling was partially inspired by the now-defunct annual Bubble Fest event, which was established in 2013 by Douglas Klappich, Deborah McGee and Bob Partida as a yearly opportunity to get together on Xenia Avenue and simply blow bubbles; the event was halted in 2020 due to the pandemic. Some of Dugie’s own bubbling supplies came from his participation in Bubble Fest.
“I think bubbling is a hippie kind of thing — some of the older people in town told me about a man who used to just stand in town and blow bubbles,” he said, adding that after Bubble Fest was canceled, he bought as many bubble supplies as he could and left them outside for kids to use. He recalled going into Walmart and seeing bubble solution for sale for $1 a bottle — and buying the whole shelf.
“The person who checked my receipt thought I was shoplifting,” he said.
While Dugie has had his scooter for years, he began bubbling by buying a tiny bubble machine that would only run when his scooter was parked.
“I did a lot of research into how to rig things up to batteries and what size machines to buy,” he said. “I even found one that is the size of a small car and will fill a whole room with bubbles. I would like to get that one day.”
Dugie told the News he has spent over $1,000 on his bubbling setup, which, in addition to the four bubble machines, includes six batteries.
“It’s hard to imagine that someone would spend over $1,000 on joy,” he said. “A lot of people ask me why I do it; like I have an ulterior motive. I do it for myself — to make myself smile just as much as I do it to see everyone else smile.”
Bubbling is itself fairly noncontroversial, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t brought Dugie a little trouble — he has received a few tickets from Yellow Springs police related to the practice.
At this year’s spring Street Fair in June, Dugie received a ticket for parking in a restricted area. He had been parked in the same restricted parking spot since 10 a.m., but Dugie said an officer only wrote the ticket after the bubbles ran out at 4 p.m. He had to return throughout the day to refill the bubble machines, and told the News he would have moved the vehicle if asked. Dugie later posted on Facebook about the incident, receiving more than 100 responses, with most thanking him for the bubbles and encouraging him to fight the ticket. However, a handful of commenters disagreed, saying it was his responsibility to be aware of where to park and that he shouldn’t get special treatment.
“I decided I was wrong; I did drive around their barrier and parked in their marked-off restricted area, even though there was nothing going on in that area,” he said. “They had the right to give me the ticket. I was breaking the law, so I went ahead and paid it.”
Dugie had a different perspective for a ticket he received during the 2023 YS Pride festival, that time ostensibly for impeding the sidewalk. Despite the ticket being paid for by people leaving money on his scooter, Dugie said he didn’t believe he had actually impeded the sidewalk — so he fought the ticket and won. He told the News that he would like to get in contact with the coordinators of Street Fair and YS Pride so he can find a permitted place to park during the events.
Dugie has established a GoFundMe effort entitled “Keep the bubbles going,” with the goal of not only continuously funding the effort, but so there is a safety net for someone else to take it over if he can’t do it anymore; the site can be accessed at gofundme.com/f/YS-BubbleMan. He said he also hopes to expand the effort.
“Yellow Springs needs more hippie people doing more hippie s—t,” Dugie said. “I would love to bring back Bubble Fest, too.”
Dugie considered his message of spreading peace, saying he takes it to heart. He even approached a group of protesters at the recent YS Pride event about their message, telling them: “I can believe what I want and you can believe what you want, but we can easily agree that we all deserve peace, love and happiness.”
*The author is a student at Antioch College and a freelance reporter for the News.
The Village of Yellow Springs may have created a new municipal job, but it brought in a familiar face to fill the role.
Village native Elyse Giardullo, 31, was hired last month as the Village project lead — a new job housed in the Village offices, upstairs in the John Bryan Community Center.
It’s a role, Giardullo told the News in an interview last week, whose work will generate local data analytics, research and more that will help the Village manager, Council and other municipal movers and shakers make better, future-oriented decisions for years to come.
“It’s really exciting,” Giardullo said. “Village Manager Johnnie Burns has a vision of where he wants this community to go, and with my background in research and lifelong love for public service, I’m here to bring his ideas to fruition.”
The biggest project on Giardullo’s plate — and the first she’ll tackle — is the creation of a strategic plan for Yellow Springs: a sweeping, forward-thinking “roadmap” for the Village, replete with community and local stakeholder input, surveys, demographics and more. Giardullo said she plans to have this strategic plan done within a year.
“So this is something that would be a three- to five-year vision for the Village — something that outlines strategic initiatives for future housing, economic development and other initiatives, along with ways to measure the progress with our goals,” Giardullo explained.
A comprehensive, Village-run strategic plan would be the first of its kind, though not dissimilar from what’s been written — or, at least, attempted — in the past.
In 2010, the Village partnered with Columbus-based ACP Visioning+Planning to create a 40-page “visioning” document that recommended a variety of actions, including “creating and implementing an economic development plan,” “prepare and implement a joint comprehensive land use plan and long-term utility improvement plan.”
Later, in 2012, The Village’s Economic Sustainability Commission offered a number of development recommendations in its Economic Sustainability Plan.
While the Miami Township Trustees and Village Council continued to occasionally meet jointly through 2015, little came of implementing the actionable items from ACP’s visioning recommendations until 2020, when the Village updated its Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which according to past News reporting, garnered 1,700 “impressions” or interactions from villagers that emphasized the need for a broader economic base, diversity of housing types and prices and municipal broadband, among other priorities.
Additionally, tracking with its decade-based schedule, the James A. McKee Association released its Cost-of-Living Report in 2012, then again in 2022 — a demographic-based study that weighs population fluctuations against tax, utility, housing and other economic costs associated with living in Yellow Springs.
For Giardullo’s part, she hopes to bring all the information outlined in these documents into one, single strategic plan — one created “in house” as she described.
“The costs of hiring consultants — some of whom have been people from out of town, who may not know the village — are huge,” Giardullo said. “They come in, give us something, then leave. Then, what they’ve made becomes just another document on a shelf.”
She continued: “But having a project lead can see these recommendations through.”
Unlike some of these past out-of-town consultants, Giardullo knows Yellow Springs in and out.
She grew up in Yellow Springs and is, as she said, a “proud product of the Yellow Springs school system.” She graduated from Yellow Springs High School in 2011, getting an associate degree from Sinclair Community College at the same time as her high school diploma. Giardullo went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, then later, her Master of Public Administration degree from Wright State.
Not to mention, Giardullo is the child of two lifelong public servants: Her mother, Denise Swinger, retired in 2023 after eight years as the Village’s Planning and Zoning Administrator. Her father, Joseph Giardullo co-founded a local nonprofit with Swinger, STARFISH, which today is known as YS Emergency Assistance.
“It’s in my blood,” she said of public service.
Giardullo also brings to the table a broader perspective than most. As a young adult, she lived in New Zealand — a place of “nearly universal healthcare and paid-for education” — for just shy of seven years. Giardullo hopes to bring a similar sense of progressive liberalism back to her hometown. And on top of that, she brought home a Kiwi husband, who she now lives with in Miami Township, just minutes beyond Yellow Springs.
As she compiles her forthcoming strategic plan, Giardullo said she has a laser focus on incorporating some of the more unsung local voices in her data analyses — specifically those from the millennial and gen-Z age-groups, which, according to the 2022 Cost-of-Living Report, account for upward of 16% of the Yellow Springs population. Conversely, 46.5% of village residents are 55 years or older, according to the McKee report.
“So, my goal is to tap in and hear from these younger perspectives,” Giardullo said. “You hear from less and less of these younger groups at Council meetings or anywhere in town. As a millennial myself, I feel like I can bring that perspective to the table.”
How? Well, Giardullo said a lot of her data-driven work may involve going door-to-door, hosting focus groups, maybe even public forums to collect information for her strategic plan.
“Whatever it takes,” she said.
But it’s not just more younger folks Giardullo hopes to engage and bring into the political process. As she told the News, she expects to attend many future Village Council, school board, Yellow Springs Development Corporation and Miami Township Trustee meetings — perhaps in the village manager’s stead from time to time. Her goal, ultimately, is to play an active role in the community — garnering as many local voices and opinions to inform her plan.
“It all comes back to data-driven and data-informed, evidence-based decision making,” Giardullo said. “I love this town, and as someone who grew up here, I genuinely want what’s best for this town — whatever it may be, and whatever people say it ought to be.”
Giardullo said locals are welcome to come and meet her during normal office hours in her office on the second floor of the Bryan Center — whether to learn more about the new position of project lead, to share ideas or simply to say “hello” to a familiar face.
At its Thursday, July 11, regular meeting, the YS school board approved a resolution that could help bring a proposed 50-unit affordable housing development closer to fruition — provided several further hurdles are cleared.
As the News has reported since early May, the Morgan soccer fields on East Enon Road have been identified as the possible site of a development that could house 50 families of low income in the village. The site of the Morgan Fields, which is currently home to a number of local soccer programs, is being considered because it scores very high on the opportunity index as outlined by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, or OHFA — the same agency that could award $15 million in federal low-income housing tax credits for the proposed development.
The resolution approved by the school board outlines three courses of action:
• To submit an application to Village Planning Commission to subdivide 3.6 acres of the Morgan Fields from the rest of the land it abuts, and to rezone the land from low-density R-A to high-density R-C in order to accommodate the 50 units of the proposed development;
• To facilitate the removal of collateral and financial encumbrances on the property;
• To identify and potentially purchase a suitable property onto which the existing soccer programs that use the Morgan Fields could be relocated.
If all three of the above outlined actions are successful, Morgan Fields would need to be sold to the Village of Yellow Springs in order for the proposed 50-unit affordable housing development to move forward.
Before voting on the resolution, the school board’s discussion reflected the largest community concern about the proposed development: If the school district sells Morgan Fields, how will the athletic programs that currently use the land be affected?
“It’s not a question of either a possible affordable, 50-unit family apartment building or robust soccer [programs],” Board President Judith Hempfling said in opening remarks regarding the proposed resolution. “The question is, is it possible to have both?”
Board member Dorothée Bouquet summarized public concerns as a worry that the sale of the land might constitute a “bait and switch” — that the Morgan Fields might be replaced by the purchase of land not suitable for athletics, or that it might not be replaced at all.
Citing the school board’s discussion at a regular meeting last month that indicated an ideal situation in which the district would not only be “made whole” if it sold the land — that is, find an equal replacement that could be purchased with funds received from the sale of Morgan Fields — but “whole-plus,” Bouquet asked: “What does it look like to make the school district whole-plus in this project?”
Board Vice President Rebecca Potter — who, with Hempfling, has spearheaded the effort to work with Village Council on the possible rezoning and sale of Morgan Fields — responded that suitable replacement land for Morgan Fields would constitute “athletic fields that would meet or increase what [the district offers] currently.”
“That could be a larger area, or the same area with better quality,” Potter said.
Bouquet and board member Amy Magnus also brought forth concerns over replacement land meeting standards for Title IX requirements, which are federal regulations intended to enforce the equal treatment of female and male student-athletes, as well as adequate drainage and parking.
“I have concerns, and I want those addressed — but we’re not at a point where I can see whether those issues will be addressed,” Magnus said. “I also feel like this [proposed development] is extremely important to try.”
District Treasurer Jacob McGrath also spoke to perhaps the largest road-block for siting the proposed development on the Morgan Fields at this stage: The existence of a lien, which is being used as collateral against the financing for district facilities improvement project, and other encumbrances on the land.
“While there is a possibility of removing part of that lien, it is only a possibility,” McGrath said. “There can be no sale until that hurdle is cleared.”
As the News has reported in past issues, Village Council approved a resolution in June to pay $7,500 from the Village’s Affordable Housing Fund for a bond attorney to determine if financial restrictions can be removed from the Morgan Fields. Initial findings by that bond attorney were presented at a July 15 Council meeting, and indicate that removing encumbrances on the land would be difficult, but possible; read more in this week’s page 1 Council report by Reilly Dixon.
In addition to an opinion from the bond attorney hired by the Village, Superintendent Terri Holden advised that the school board seek the counsel of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office on the question of the financial restrictions on the land.
Board member Amy Bailey suggested the board take the superintendent’s advice, and that no district funds be spent on any exploration related to the sale of the Morgan Fields without counsel from the attorney general. She also reiterated the concerns summarized by Bouquet earlier in the meeting, as well as some who spoke during the community comments portion of the board meeting.
“If we don’t have land in hand and the money to get that land up to the standard for soccer fields, this [development project] doesn’t happen,” Bailey said.
“We’re not going to be selling land if we haven’t identified a suitable replacement,” Hempfling said.
“I just want to reiterate a commitment … that we can have this be a way of offering affordable housing without negatively impacting soccer in Yellow Springs, “ Potter added.
Bouquet said she was “very glad” to have that commitment reiterated by fellow board members.
“I will probably ask you to reconfirm that every time we discuss this, to hear your commitment again,” Bouquet said. “I think it’s one of those things that really would bring a lot of relief to this community, if you can keep voicing that every time we come to the next step.”
Bailey also suggested the board consider holding a joint public meeting with Village Council in order to bring the public up to speed on the conversation surrounding the potential sale of the Morgan Fields as that conversation continues to change. Other board members were receptive, and Hempfling said that, as the board’s liaison to Village Council, she would bring the suggestion to Council members.
The board voted 4–1 to move ahead with working to subdivide and rezone Morgan Fields; to explore removing collateral liens from the land; and find suitable replacement land; with Bailey voting against.
In other school board business:
• The board approved breakfast and lunch prices for the 2024–25 school year, which are now $1.35 for breakfast at all schools, up from $1.25 last school year; and $3.25 for lunch at Mills Lawn and $3.50 for lunch at the middle and high schools, an increase of 25 cents from last school year.
Bouquet pointed out that, though some school meal costs are increasing, the school district continues not to “break even” on its student nutrition expenses. At the same time, she noted that in August, the board will discuss the distribution of donated funds to address student lunch debt.
• The board had initially planned for the July 11 meeting to include further discussion of the possible conservation of greenspace at Mills Lawn, which was brought before the board by local advocacy group Citizens to Preserve Mills Lawn Greenspace in March, but decided to postpone discussion until a July 31 work session.
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