On a cold Monday morning in late March this year, a group of about a dozen alumni gathered in Antioch College’s Coretta Scott King Center. The space served as both breakfast buffet and planning and coordination forum for the spring Volunteer Work Project, in which alumni gather on campus to give back to the institution that helped shape them as young adults. This year marks the VWP’s 40th anniversary.

Helen Welford, one of the alumni cooks, fielded compliments on homemade sausage rolls as the old friends cleared their plates and talked across one another, reviving stories from decades past. Director of Facilities Joshua Miller drifted in as coffee cups were drained and began listing the work waiting around campus. There were light bulbs to change out in North Hall, ceiling tiles to replace in Birch Hall, yard waste to clear and office work to complete.

Shannon McCarville, then Antioch’s director of alumni relations and communications, helped divide up the crew.

“Let’s bombard her with stories of VWP and how fun it is,” McCarville told the group, referring to this reporter’s presence at the table.

McCarville, a 2002 graduate, had welcomed the volunteers the night before and would help shepherd them through the week’s work. This month, alumni returned to campus for their pre-reunion VWP work, though they did so without McCarville, who was fired in June.

Staffing and leadership changes aren’t new to those who participate in VWP; as an alumni panel recounted in an oral history of VWP in 2024, they’ve continued to show up on campus through financial strain, closure and reopening, and everything in between, always looking ahead. As longtime VWP volunteer Penny Storm told alumni in 2024: “While you’re [at Reunion] reminiscing about your past, we’re planning our future.”

The VWP had its roots in the 25th reunion of the class of 1960 in 1985. At the time, it was customary for the honored class to present the college with a gift. During the 2024 panel, Peggy Erskine — who died later that year — recalled that she, Mac Palmer and Bob Press looked around at years of deferred maintenance, including a leaking roof on Birch Hall, and began talking on the steps of McGregor Hall about what their class could give.

Many had growing family expenses and didn’t have much money to spare — but they did have time, practical knowledge and memories of the work projects that had once been part of orientation for incoming Antioch students. Their class gift, they decided, would be an annual alumni work project.

The first project, in 1986, drew 37 people, who gave 400 hours over four days. Alumni raised $1,200 toward a roof for Birch Hall, with the college contributing another $1,800. Alumni renovated 10 of 15 rooms in Rice Hall and cleaned the bathrooms.

“The usual role alumni play in supporting their alma mater is to give money,” 1972 alumnus Jon Baker said in 2024. “One of the things that makes Antioch alumni unique is the donation of their hands, backs and brains in making real and tangible improvements to the college and its facilities.”

When alumni were told in 2007 that their planned campus work week was canceled ahead of the college’s announced closure, they came anyway, shifting their labor to Glen Helen, repairing windows and doors at Birch Manor. When the college reopened in 2011, alumni volunteers transformed the garage of the former campus fire department, Maples, into a workshop, repairing discarded saws, drill presses, lights and other equipment they found around campus. By 2024, about 900 people had participated, making classroom repairs, refinishing desks, restoring windows, painting dormitories.

“Love isn’t love unless there’s action involved, and we love Antioch,” Storm said.

 

In 2013, as the Foundry Theater underwent renovation, alumni volunteers salvaged maple flooring from Curl Gymnasium’s west gym and rebuilt it as a sprung floor in the Foundry’s dance studio. When alumni gathered this March for the spring Volunteer Work Project, it was just after a campus boiler failure that flooded the Foundry, destroying carpeting in the building’s entry, stage flooring in the auditorium and the maple flooring volunteers had built 13 years earlier.

“It’s just heartbreaking when you have to go back and replace what you already did in the first place,” said longtime volunteer Megan Trollander.

The alumni were ready to jump back in and get started on repairing the Foundry that day, but with the heat system still down and awaiting parts, the building wasn’t yet ready. So, they turned to what could be done: This reporter helped pick up downed limbs littering the Antioch Hall lawn as volunteers headed to survey Antioch Hall’s long-closed Kelly Hall. Just a few days earlier, at its March 19 “State of the College” event, Antioch had announced that Antioch Hall would be restored and reoccupied, with Kelly Hall expected to reopen after nearly two decades of closure.

At meals, the week’s assignments were braided with older stories and news of present lives. Alumni talked about children, jobs, former classmates and the routes they had traveled since leaving Antioch. They compared memories and gently disputed dates.

The meals themselves were part of the volunteers’ contribution. The cooks pay for much of the food and plan menus weeks in advance, working in the compact Coretta Scott King Center kitchen, in part on a stove donated by an alumna. After the final meal, Welford said, the larger crew comes back to mop floors, wipe counters and put away tables and chairs.

“The whole crew comes in to help us put the kitchen to bed,” she said.

The crew that gathered in March was a small portion of what they called “the usual suspects,” almost all of whom graduated decades ago. These days, the gathered alumni said, medical concerns and family responsibilities keep some longtime volunteers away; other former stalwarts have died.

“I can’t keep doing this forever, right?” said playwright Robin Rice, who graduated in 1964.

Ralph Overton, of the Class of ’61, one of the longest-serving volunteers, is in his 90s and, as McCarville told the News in March, “cannot be stopped.”

But the current group said they hope that younger alumni, current students and community members will come out to campus and work beside them — and participation doesn’t require an Antioch degree.

“All you need to do is care about the friggin’ college,” Trollander said.

 

The assembled group believe Antioch’s spirit didn’t end with their own generations, but endures in the most important place: the minds and hearts of current students. At dinner, Rice recalled meeting two current Antioch students in New York, where she lives.

“They were interning in New York this year, and they’re just as wonderful as always,” she said.

They’re the reason, the volunteers said, that they keep returning through disappointment, uncertainty and the knowledge that some work may eventually have to be done again.

“There are enough people in town, I hope, who still care about [the college] enough to want to help,” Trollander said. “But I’ve also run into people that go, ‘Well, why are you still giving money and volunteering for the college? It’s just going to close down, you know that.’ And my response is: ‘If it does close down, it ain’t gonna be my fault.’”

Contact: chuck@ysnews.com

Some days rivers run; others, they dry up and go to bed. Rivers wind and meander, flood and flow. Rivers wash against and carry with them enough organisms to be alive themselves.

Perhaps, then, a river isn’t so unlike poetry. Local poet and literary organizer Alice Miller sure thinks so.

Over the summer, Miller’s been hosting a suite of poetry-focused recitations and readings at Tesseract Books he’s dubbed “The Poem River Series” — inspired both by the wisdom of renowned poet Mary Oliver, as well as Miller’s own affinity with the Little Miami.

With two more events planned for his series, Miller invites all would-be wordsmiths and lovers of language to listen and participate in all of the “unedited, messy, rough edges” of live poetry.

Coming up on Thursday, Aug. 27, at Tesseract Books, is a joint reading by local poets Artie Isaac and Cheryl Smith. Then, on Thursday, Sept. 10, an open-invitation recital and performance of poems.

Both events in Miller’s continuation of his “Poem River Series” are free and open to the public, as are most other literary events at Tesseract — the next of which is a “meet the illustrator” with Yellow Springs-based children’s book artist Anna Mullin on Sunday, July 19, at 2 p.m.

“I want these spaces to be a chance to experience performance,” Miller said of his series, in an interview with the News earlier this month. “Reciting a poem and hearing that poem is like an act of devotion to one another. It’s such a gift when someone is a strong performer.”

Not quite unlike a sizable fish pulling on a line, Miller pointed out.

“So, come out and catch one,” he said with a chuckle.

The most recent poems he’s reeled in at the Poem River Series came from Yellow Springs-raised and Antioch alumna Emma Loomis-Amrhein, who returned to the village last week, on July 9, to read at Tesseract Books selections from her debut collection of poems in “evening primroses.”

Miller said his discovery of Loomis-Amrhein’s poems a few years ago was an eye-opening moment for him: “I was just so happy to know that there was poetry so close to home,” he said. “How cool it is to be connected to a place, and I’m always interested in figuring out who my contemporaries are.”

Galvanized by that interest and given the chance by his employer at Tesseract Books, Kathy Engisch, Miller launched his series in May, hoping to commune with other local poets also seeking a literary community. The mouth of the summer’s river opened in May with a recitation — with Miller inviting all interested to memorize or read aloud an impactful poem.

He continued the following month on June 11 with an open mic. Attendance for that one came close to breaking the bookstore’s record — Miller’s pool had grown to 25 poets in one room, he said.

“Open mics are hard,” he conceded. “For attendees, you can get a lot of emotional stuff that, maybe, might be too heavy for what you’re looking for at the moment. At other moments, you’re hearing someone read something that’s never been edited and can be tough to take in. But that’s the point! Poetry helps us manage our feelings!”

Those looking to dive in are welcome Aug. 27 and Sept. 10 for the next installments of Miller’s series.

For more information on the upcoming literary events, go to tesseractbooks.com or the store’s Facebook page, or call 937-230-2058. Tesseract Books, located at 232 Xenia Ave. is open Tuesday–Sunday.

Contact: rdixon@ysnews.com

Yellow Springs Schools students are expected to begin the upcoming school year as planned on Thursday, Aug. 20, inside both district buildings.

At the school board’s Tuesday, July 7, regular meeting, district leaders said they are working toward occupancy at both campuses before students return. Construction crews will still be at work putting the finishing touches on the updated facilities into November, but Superintendent Megan Winston said the administration and construction team remain optimistic that the buildings will be ready for the first day of school.

“If something changes, we will make sure that families know,” Winston said, noting that weekly facilities meetings are still being held.

With that in mind, the school board held a special meeting Tuesday, July 14, to discuss a proposed contingency calendar for the school year in the event that there are unexpected construction delays.

Winston said the meeting was being held as a public hearing, required under Ohio law at least 30 days in advance of any possible changes to the district calendar already approved by the school board. The district’s legal counsel, Winston added, recommended holding the hearing now to preserve that option if the buildings are not cleared for occupancy in time. If the facilities are ready as anticipated, no further action will be needed.

Under the proposed contingency calendar, the first day of school would move from Aug. 20 to Monday, Aug. 31 — a delay of seven instructional days — while the remainder of the student calendar would stay the same. Staff members would still report on their originally scheduled dates, avoiding an extension of their work calendar into June.

Winston said the district would use the same calendar at both campuses even if one building were ready before the other, noting that some families have children in more than one school and some employees travel between buildings.

Even with the delayed start, the district would remain above Ohio’s minimum instructional-hour requirements. The district also has the option of using up to three online-learning days if closures later in the year bring it close to the state’s minimum-hour thresholds — an option approved the week before during the July 7 meeting.

Winston said the district has not used the option since it became available and would employ the days only if needed after exhausting the remaining instructional-hour cushion.

Winston reiterated during the July 14 special meeting that the district still expects facilities to be ready for students on Aug. 20, noting that she had met with the construction team that morning.

“As of an hour ago, they are optimistic that we will still be able to start school on the first day of school,” she said.

The coming year will also bring new bell schedules for students based on school day start and end time changes and the move of fifth- and sixth-graders from Mills Lawn to the middle and high school campus.

Also new this year, as the News has reported in months past, is a busing schedule that will encompass the new start and end times and ferry students from kindergarten through 12th grade to and from school together. With that in mind, Winston asked during the July 7 meeting that local families update their transportation information in FinalForms as soon as possible as the district works to finalize bus routes and staffing.

State mandates raise questions

During school board Vice President Kristi Myers’ July 7 legislative report, members discussed two state bills that could require changes to instruction, scheduling and district spending.

Senate Bill 19, signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in late June, directs school districts to provide free, evidence-based mathematics intervention outside students’ core classroom hours. According to the report, districts in which 51% or more of students score in the lowest performance tier would be required to submit a Math Achievement Improvement Plan to the state and use a state-approved curriculum.

Board members questioned whether the state would provide funding for tutoring or new instructional materials, and how intervention outside core class time would fit into the school day.

“I feel like we have another case of the state giving us a mandate, and we’re not quite sure what that’s going to look like for us,” Myers said.

Winston said Mills Lawn already has intervention periods built into each grade level’s schedule, and the middle school’s new schedule also includes intervention time. She said the district’s teaching, learning and curriculum team had discussed the new requirements at its summer retreat, and principals would address the district’s approach in a future report.

The board also discussed Senate Bill 276, which among other requirements, states that schools must provide instruction in grades six–12 aligned with the “success sequence” — that is, a “three-pronged framework for youth and young adults,” as the bill reads, “based on research from diverse institutions that individuals who complete at least a high school education, obtain full-time work and marry before having children are overwhelmingly less likely to live in poverty in adulthood.”

The “success sequence” was first brought to the attention of the board by former Superintendent Terri Holden last August when it was then included as language in two other bills.

SB 276, approved by the Ohio Senate in mid-June, was signed into law by Gov. DeWine the same day as the meeting, July 7.

“Again, what is that going to cost?” Myers asked. “How will we put it in? Those are questions that come up every time they pass something that they don’t fund.”

Board member Rebecca Potter also reported on a workshop focused on state legislation affecting diversity, equity and inclusion and LGBTQ+ education. Potter said participants were urged not to “over comply” with Ohio’s “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” which requires schools to notify parents about sexuality-related instruction and substantial changes to a student’s health or well-being, and allows parents to review or opt students out of certain lessons.

Finance committee proposed

Treasurer Jacob McGrath announced during the meeting that he is drafting a proposal for a district finance committee.

The committee would include McGrath, one appointed board member and one or two community volunteers. It would meet twice annually to review the district’s financial forecast, audit results, publicly available financial information and investment portfolio.

McGrath said the committee’s purpose, in part, would be to review forecast assumptions before the forecast comes before the full school board, giving committee members an opportunity to recommend changes.

“The goal is to get it started this year,” McGrath said, adding that he would send board members more information about the proposal.

In his monthly financial report, McGrath said May revenues were running ahead of the district’s benchmark, driven largely by income tax receipts, while expenditures remained on target.

In other school board business:

Community member Mitzie Miller, who first came before the board in April with concerns over street safety, again asked the board to press for changes to crosswalks and school-zone signage before classes begin. Winston said the district had been told crosswalks would be repainted before the start of school and had requested flashing lights and additional signs, though a review from civil engineering firm Choice One found existing crosswalks and signage compliant with state requirements.

Potter also raised concerns about students crossing Dayton Street near Stafford and Walnut streets, where she said morning traffic can make walking and bicycling difficult. Board members said the issue could be raised at a joint meeting with Village Council and township trustees later that week.

Contact: chuck@ysnews.com

By Coaches Yunus Brevik, Margi Anderson and Rob Gay

While Ohio weather forecasts are known to change about a dozen times throughout the course of a single day, there was still concern leading up to Friday, June 26, that it could be our first rained-out game of the season. We’d been fortunate so far, with June’s previous three Fridays having near-perfect baseball conditions.

The coaches didn’t start the weather guessing game until a little before noon June 26. At the time, there was a drizzle. We consulted multiple radar images and wondered how much or how heavy the rain might be. We decided to wait a few hours. It was possible things would clear up. Rain got heavier midafternoon.

Coach Yunus arrived home after work to find a quarter-inch of rain in the rain gauge, and Coach Rob visited the playing field after 4, full of optimism, to inspect the rain’s impact. From a distance, it looked playable. However, upon closer inspection, followed by a few steps — or missteps — onto the field, it became obvious that it was most certainly not playable. Although we all have fond memories of the Mud Ball game from a few years ago, we are now keenly aware of the work required to return the field to a safe condition for play.

What do families do on summer Friday nights when T-ball isn’t an option? We tried to find out.

Daisy Joan, 5, and Harrison, 2, made a huge Southern supper, wrestled, colored, drew, made paper clothes for dolls and spent time together, all with their family.

Sarah, almost 9, enjoyed playing her favorite computer game, Roblox. Her mom was frantically working on a handmade birthday present for her.

Two-year-old Winnie’s BaBa and Pop were over for a spaghetti dinner. Coach Margi also enjoyed a homemade spaghetti sauce dinner. Margi stayed in, listened to some good music and the sound of raindrops. She also stayed up late and watched a movie.

Ryder, 4, was another one who stayed in to watch a movie. We’re told he likely would have stayed home regardless of the weather, as he’s nursing a summer cold. Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Not all players stayed in. Callie, 6, went for a playdate, which opened up an opportunity for her dad to go for a run while her mom enjoyed watching an international football game at Mazu.

Sebastian, 3, and Harrison, turning 5 on July 1, spent the rainy day at the Boonshoft Museum and watched a laser light and music show in the planetarium. Once home, they cozied in for dinner and bedtime.

Ender, 8, picked up his sister, Cheyenne, from Girl Scout camp, where she’s learning the necessary skills to become a camp counselor. They enjoyed Chubby’s Pizza in Morrow on the way home. They were accompanied by Grandma Agga, who enjoyed the pizza as well, though it was reported she thinks hiking in John Bryan State Park is better than pizza.

We also learned that Ender successfully got his library fines below $10 and checked out an armload of books to start reading.

Coaches Yunus and Beth decided the rainy night was just right for a family trip to the Antioch Wellness Center’s hot tub. Walking into the pool area from the locker rooms, they ran into Jimi, 5, and Rubi, almost 4, and their parents, who had to warn us that the hot tub was more like lukewarm.

After testing it, we decided it wasn’t remotely warm. It was a cold tub. The pool was warmer. River, 7, and Cassian, 3, found pool toys to throw into the pool, apparently determined to do something that resembled baseball. Jimi and Rubi were braver than all and managed to stay in the cold tub for an impressive amount of time.

Coach Rob decided to take advantage of the opportunity to do a bit of cycling. Although baseball, in its various capacities, occupies the majority of his free time during the spring and summer months, he still enjoys the peace and freedom when going for a bike ride. He rode through the neighborhoods where he spent his formative childhood years, which brought back a flood of memories from years gone by.

Next Friday, July 3, there will be no T-ball play, as the field will be closed in preparation for fireworks and holiday festivities at Gaunt Park for Independence Day. Perry Leaguers, past and present, are welcome to join us to walk in the parade on the Fourth.

Wear your vintage or latest Perry League shirt with holiday embellishments — both optional — and find us at the parade-gathering spot behind the fire station around 11 a.m. The parade begins at noon.

Games will resume July 10. That evening will also feature the return of Perry League Plus, a slightly more structured game designed to help players who are planning to transition to the Youth Baseball League next year.

You are welcome to join us for the remaining Friday evenings in July starting at 6 p.m. in Gaunt Park. Our all-volunteer program is noncompetitive, free and open to children ages 2–9, regardless of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, spiritual inclination or practice, ability or disability.

Whether the Village’s purchase of the apartments at 10 Lawson Place was financially prudent was of little consequence to the Village administration of nearly five years ago.

When the 16-unit complex went on the market, Yellow Springs was in jeopardy of losing what had been, for almost 60 years, an affordable and reliable haven for local renters — one that notably catered to Black residents, even as diversity in Yellow Springs declined over the decades.

Fearful a developer that favored profits over people would scoop up the property, local leaders made their move: in November 2021, Council approved the purchase of Lawson Place for $770,000, with a $130,000 down payment and a 15-year loan to cover the rest.

Since then, the Village of Yellow Springs has retained control of the apartment complex and has functioned as the de facto manager of the property — dealing with its occupancy and maintenance, rents and renovations, tenant complaints and unit improvements.

A lot of work, but worth it.

That’s according to Village Council members and administrative staff who, at a housing-focused meeting on June 25, reviewed a comprehensive financial analysis of Yellow Springs’ past, present and future investments in Lawson Place.

Prepared for the Village by local government consultant Mark Schwieterman of the Shared Resource Center, the analysis weighed expenses against revenues, and detailed occupancy and market trends.

The report emphasized the property’s overall growth in value since the purchase. Per the latest assessment, Lawson Place has a current market value of $1,275,000 — a $514,000 uptick in equity since 2022.

While that investment has appreciated, the Village is still left with day-to-day costs. The report shows that revenues from rents can cover the apartment complex’s annual operating, capital and renovation expenses; however, the annual debt service still outpaces the revenues. According to projections, the Village will have a net loss of $329,050 by the time the loan is paid off in 2037.

“With the need for affordable housing,” Village Manager Johnnie Burns said, “$329,000 over a period of 15 years is not a huge loss to the Village to be able to secure the 16 units that we did. I think it means more to our community than the money.”

Based on Schwieterman’s projections, beginning in 2037, or when the debt owed on the property has been repaid, Lawson Place is on track to generate $63,110 in annual profit for the Village.

“And these are conservative numbers,” Assistant Manager Elyse Gairdullo said. “Who knows what the housing market will look like in 2036?”

Giardullo noted that, for his projections, Schwieterman relied on annual increases of 3% for operating expenses, 10% for renovation expenses and 5% for capital increases, as well as 3% increase in rental costs.

“So, this is working,” Council President Gavin DeVore Leonard said of the Village’s ownership of Lawson Place. “The math works and it provides a benefit.”

Currently, rents at Lawson Place are $668.37 per month for a unit that the Village hasn’t yet renovated since the 2022 purchase, and $725 for a renovated unit.

According to Burns, 11.5 units have been renovated — which, among other improvements, includes the installation of new appliances. All the rest are on track to be renovated as needed. There are presently no vacancies among the 16 units; when the Village took over, Burns said half were unoccupied and seven “weren’t even rentable.”

Burns also pointed out that the Village has, since 2022, put on a new roof and gutters and added a water heater to the complex.

Personnel costs of keeping Lawson Place running for tenants total around $30,000 annually — $5,000 to cover Village staffer Cameron Fortin’s work fielding phone calls from tenants and connecting them to resources, and $25,000 for the Public Works crew to mow, plow snow and take care of some miscellaneous property management jobs. Local contractors do all the rest.

Burns admitted to his initial skepticism of the Village’s decision to purchase Lawson Place and load staffers with additional labor. However, he said he’s proud of how much work has been put into the apartments and hopes the Village retains full oversight of its future — as opposed to switching to a third party property maintenance company, which Schwieterman’s report floated as a possibility.

“I’m dead-set against it,” he told Village Council members. “When your residents call, [the Village] should be taking care of it instead of a property maintenance person out of Dayton, Cincinnati, Beavercreek, saying, ‘We’ll get to you whenever.’ When residents call us, we know it’s a concern, we know who’s calling and we’re right over there.”

Schwieterman’s financial analysis gives the Village five options regarding the fate of Lawson Place and its oversight:

“Do nothing and continue on the current path” of Village acting as property manager and rent collector;

“Formalize” administrative and Public Works cost allocations — likely by going through a third-party property management company;

“Reduce contracting out” for Lawson Place and the other 11-Village owned buildings, potentially by hiring a facilities technician or maintenance person on Village payroll;

Continue annual evaluation of rental rates; or

Consider selling Lawson Place.

Though Village Council members unanimously extolled the Village for its efforts to keep Lawson Place as a comparatively affordable option for local renters, the group somewhat differed on who — or what — should maintain the property.

“I don’t think property maintenance should be in-house,” Council member Carmen Brown said. “Not everyone is going to get along every time. There needs to be a neutral party for something as personal as housing is. There should be distance between the Village and the residents at Lawson Place.”

Fellow member Stephanie Pearce and Council Vice President Angie Hsu agreed on the need to “professionalize” oversight of Lawson Place.

Burns maintained his position of keeping local control, but indicated that Village administrative staff is in the midst of conducting evaluations on whether hiring a full-time maintenance person would make financial sense.

“Right now staff has to be pulled out of their daily duties to do things — or we hire a contractor,” he said. “Now, we’re pulling contractor prices to see what it would cost for someone to maintain all 11 Village properties — someone who could fix a clogged drain for the police department or at Lawson Place, someone who may be at the water plant, lift station or library.”

He added: “We’re evaluating that for the 2027 budget — if it’s feasible and if Council would be amenable.”

Largely irrespective of who maintains Lawson Place, Council members agreed that the Village ought to invest more in public-owned housing.

“By any metric of evaluation, this has been a success,” Council member Senay Semere said. “As far as economic development goes, from a community level to an investment level, this has been a success. It shows that low-income housing doesn’t have to be low-quality. This is the proof.”

Council President DeVore Leonard suggested replicating these efforts elsewhere in town, provided the rentals are available for purchase and Village staff has the capacity to maintain them.

“We should keep our eyes open for other opportunities,” DeVore Leonard said. “[Lawson Place’s] rents are very affordable. There’s a reason why there is a constant desire to get in these units. It’s because of the bigger math problem: there are a lot of people who don’t make enough  money to afford higher rents.”

He added: “There could be more units in Yellow Springs owned without a motive just to profit.”

Contact: rdixon@ysnews.com

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