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Thank you.

And now the 490 with Gretchen De Backer, Matt Killam and Kevin Mullin all.

Welcome in to a Tuesday edition of the 490.

My name is Gretchen de Becker.

Night kiln.

We are again without our talent.

Dad is away.

Our technical.

Leader is not here again today, but we're sending our best wishes to Kevin Mullin.

Should we make up a reason why he's not here?

Yes.

Yes, he is a part of an international stamp collecting coalition.

So he'll be out with his buddies in a van underneath the bridge.

And I would be in some part of Newark, new Jersey.

we think he's on his way back now, but with these guys there.

So they're there.

They live in the rogue agents.

That's right.

And we also decided, regrettably, to address the same we did, which we did not figure out until just before shooting.

So I need is a is a hat and a and maybe a Metroparks logo.

Sure.

Patch everybody does.

Everybody does that.

I should know not to wear a black vest or we should text in the morning.

And no.

We should never talk.

But that being said, we've got a great show ahead, as we always do, but I think we have kind of a couple of the things that we're adding to the program.

And you are the bring us behind this.

So give us the background.

Well, thanks.

We're very excited because we have two things coming up.

We're hoping that our audience will engage with us on our social media pages.

The first is the 419 Problem Solvers.

That's right.

If anyone's going to describe us.

Yeah.

Generally, yeah, I think they're going to say those three are problem solvers.

That's exactly right.

And so we have put a post up.

If you have a problem you need solved.

If you have, you know, someone that has a problem they need solved.

You can write us at four by nine at, at if you want to remain, remain anonymous.

You can or you can just make a post on underneath the social media post on our Facebook or Instagram.

And there are investigative reporters.

There's an I team, I think I've heard of it.

And these are people that get to the root of problems that that sort of the, the challenges of our, our community.

This this appears to not be that.

No.

And we probably should be using air quotes in all the times when we say problem solvers, because we're not really interested in real problems for solving them.

That's right.

Yeah.

Creating them.

Sure.

This is going to be more.

About, you know, let's say let's say you had got to party invitation and you've RSVP'd.

Yes.

Yeah.

And it's the day of.

Yeah.

And you don't want to go.

You need that.

Problem solved.

We're here.

That's right.

We're here to to get you out of going to that party.

So and people can submit these things under the you said under anonymity.

Yes.

Yes.

If they send us the email or they just asked to be kept anonymous, we'll pick some of the good ones, some of the hardest ones that need to be solved.

Sure.

And these should be problems also that require no investigation on our part.

No, no, no time commitment.

Just, you know, maybe just.

General simplest life's little problems.

But another great thing that we're doing on social media again on Facebook and Instagram, if you want to follow us there or send us an email to 419.org is who's Got Next?

And there's a post that we just put up last night over the weekend, actually, about who else should we be talking to?

We've talked to 350 some odd people already.

But who who are people that we haven't heard of yet?

Who are people that are doing great things that we should have on the show?

And we got an amazing number of responses already.

Yeah, I think that we're pretty.

We tell the story quite a bit, but some of the cynics, when the show first started a couple of years ago, was that we were going to run out of people.

But the reality is, of course, it will never run out of great people doing great things in our area.

So I can't wait to see what some of those names are and keep bring them in.

We'll keep having people on talk about it.

Great stuff.

So we encourage you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at the 419 podcast.

Also follow pages for updates.

So our guest today are Margaret Patten.

Matt, this is a friend of yours.

Yes.

And we're going to have Sean and Marjorie in from Rita Soups and Saint Paul's Episcopal Church.

And then we're going to have Toledo City Councilwoman Erin Kramer.

She's one of the newest elected members of Toledo City Council.

So excited to have a conversation with.

Her as well.

And we will be right back with our first guest.

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Welcome back into the 419.

We're here with our first guest of the day, Margaret Penn.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Margaret, thanks for coming in.

And I was immediately regretting it when?

To step down and started talking.

I don't.

Feel your regrets.

Yes, yes.

It's risky making you feel very uncomfortable.

You are truly one of my favorite people.

I think you have an interesting story.

And an important one.

At least that's what you told me to say right here.

When you know it's, Margaret, give us a little bit of background before we go through what I think the most salient points are.

You are not from here originally, right?

You are?

I am a transplant.

Yes.

From whereabouts?

So I'm a bit of a mutt.

I was born in England.

We lived there until I was going into junior high and then moved to the States.

Right outside of D.C., on the Virginia side.

Moved to New York after college.

That's where I married.

Started my family.

The movement was from your folks were military.

I was just bored.

No.

My.

My father was, he had gone in World War Two, actually, at the very tail end of World War two, went to England and then volunteered to stay and stayed for 37 years.

Wow.

He went as a participant in war or was vacationing or.

The very end.

My father was 17 years older than my mother, and.

Oh my goodness.

My mother was from Northern Ireland.

There was a nurse in London and my father got into a car.

This is like the beginning.

Of a really good movie.

Yes.

And then?

Then everything blows up.

My parents got divorced.

After.

The show.

That.

That's so good.

I've always thought the best way to date is fighting a global evil.

Yeah.

That's how.

Romance to bring yourself.

It's a good start.

That's where we learned out of romance con over the weekend.

So coming in this to your own here, living in the United States, it was a sure path that lead Ohio.

I mean, it seems like all passed duly to Toledo.

No, I ended up my husband at the time, took a job here in Toledo, and we moved from New York to Toledo, and I came sort of kicking and screaming.

But as I tell people now, I, I have drunk the Kool-Aid in Toledo, and I love our community.

What was.

The first thing that in terms of the Kool-Aid that turned the tide for you after you were living here for a for a bit?

Well.

Which NetEase location?

Yeah.

I mean, basically all.

Of them.

And all the other locations of all the food here in Toledo, the people, for sure.

It was the people.

I felt very supported by a community.

I had left a very supportive community, moved here and then went through a divorce pretty readily.

And I just realized that it's not where you live.

It's how you live and who you're with.

And, during that time is when I, I had been a Toledo practitioner, I mean, a yoga practitioner, but then opened a studio shortly thereafter.

But that you were sort of a trailblazer in that space in Toledo, Ohio.

But I don't know if there was any.

There were, there were.

There's definitely been trailblazers ahead of me in the yoga world.

But we were early.

Early on.

Yeah.

And this was always part of your life.

Wellness in this capacity?

No, I don't actually like exercising.

Just be clear.

For every.

Other first, folks.

I say this is.

All the time.

But for some reason, when I had started practicing the physical practice of yoga, it spoke.

It was.

It didn't seem like exercise to me.

But then over the course of many years, I really came to learn what yoga really is, which is not a physical practice, but it's a spiritual practice.

And so that was sort of the path, but it was a gateway for me, the physical practice into the spiritual.

So the spiritual portion of it is a little bit uncomfortable for me.

But you talked about community.

A lot is uncomfortable.

For you.

Yes.

So you've met.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

This is this is a this was a mistake.

Yeah.

So I do want to talk about the communal component of it.

I know that you're a lover of Toledo and you made your own community.

Those are my words.

But you certainly have.

And did.

So what is the connection between yoga, which can't be or maybe was supposed to be?

I think of it in isolation or solo endeavor, but it is truly community building, right?

People can be put off by it, by some unknown generalization.

They have or think that I can't do this, or it's from somebody who lives on the coast, but there is a community that lives in Cricket West that you built, that cares for one another, and it comes in and out, but people come back and there's a real spirit of connection there.

Can you talk a little bit about why that appears to have occurred and does occur?

Yeah, I think that, you know, when when we first opened the studio, which was in at the very beginning of 2014, we were a physical yoga studio.

And all of us started this journey together of learning what yoga really is.

And in building a community that cared about our environment, which is actually how Matt and I know each other because of the things we do with Metro parks and, but also caring about each other, volunteering, going out, doing things in the community that help the community, doing things that bring people to understand wellness as a whole, not about what you look like.

Yeah, if you can do a handstand or not, but how are you an important part in this wholeness of our community?

And every person brings something different to that community.

And every person is really important as part of a community.

Can anyone.

Do yoga?

Yeah.

Because really, at the root of it all is meditation.

And were you immediately.

Able to meditate this capacity?

How long did it take you to be able to do this?

You know me.

So this doesn't seem like a likely fit.

For me to meditate.

Yeah.

Well, meditation.

I've been doing this for a long time.

I've done.

I've taken a lot of courses in it.

Meditation.

I have come to the understanding to be sitting still.

In an attempt to connect to something greater than yourself.

Right.

So if you don't think about it as I'm doing this to get this, but instead you just think about just sitting and being.

Yeah.

And we don't get that a lot anymore because we're all connected to our phones.

We wake up from our phone, we immediately get onto our phone.

We I wish I was using it right now.

Only you were using it right now and the TV is on if anybody's watching.

So the TV goes.

On, you know.

But.

It's important for us, I think, as humans, to carve out time where we are connected to something bigger than what man has created.

Sure.

And it's one of the reasons that I love the metro parks.

I think we're so fortunate in this area that we have an amazing outdoor system in an area that nobody would readily think of as like, oh, what a great outdoor place that is.

But it is.

So to just be able to go outside and step into nature without your phone, to be quiet, to just absorb, to just be.

This is meditation.

So yeah.

That's a helpful answer.

I guess I question like any human being.

You've you've had some real ups and some real downs.

Can you talk to me a bit about.

And I apologize for putting you on the spot here, but the pursuit of happiness.

What is that?

What does that pursuit mean or look like?

Is that is that a responsible way to look at life?

That's something we all talk about aspiring to.

We wear t shirts and hats with smiley faces on them.

But it's.

We're not as sophisticated as species is.

I think that we lay claim to and we are going to have, based on just the everyday life as we run into other carbon based, usually bipedal, individuals.

Challenges.

So is it.

Are we looking to be happy?

Is that reasonable?

What is the goal, in your opinion, of walking through this planet?

So I think that all of us have a different idea of what happiness looks like.

And.

When you become a parent, almost every parent says, I just want them to be happy.

But I'm not sure that's true.

I think for many of us, we believe happiness looks like this.

And if the path isn't to look like this, then we're not happy.

Yeah.

And so I think it can become a slippery slope.

But what I really believe is that our pursuit should perhaps be to love.

Okay?

Because when we step into a space of being loving, being kind, the things around us inevitably reflect back that same thing to us, which then actually leads to happiness.

Right.

But being loving and kind, while I believe that is our innate sense of being, when we start getting caught up in these other pursuits, we get taken out of that space a little.

So bad things happen to good people.

Right.

All the time.

You know, there's a book called that.

Bad things happen to good people.

Bad things happen to bad people.

Bad things happen to all people.

Sure.

So the things that the practices that we do are not about having a life that is.

Pure bliss.

Blissful, right?

The practices that we do are about understanding that when these things happen, we can sit in that space.

We can feel the suffering.

We can experience things that are human pain, anger, fear.

But we have the understanding, the foundation, to understand that this is not a lasting moment.

And the meditation almost prepares you for those moments.

You're listening to the 419.

On what?

We're talking with Margaret Penn.

There's also, in addition to yoga, people haven't been to Cricket West in West Toledo, the studios upstairs and then downstairs.

There's a wonderful, clothing and jewelry.

Shop.

Opposite of.

Gretchen's.

And to get to this.

I just want.

To get to the.

Jewelry store that.

At here and there.

But can you talk a little bit about that.

Retail space?

So.

Ironically, both these things, the yoga studio and now a retail shop.

More things that other people really wanted.

To do.

And then I just sort of went along and now here I am.

But, we used to be called the yoga shop when we were just below the.

We still are below the yoga studio, but I sold the yoga studio in April.

We switched over to here and there, took over a second space on the other side of the dollop shop.

This is a shop that's a little bit like.

Cheers.

You can come in and hang out and not drink.

You don't serve any at all.

Yeah.

But it's a shop that has everything that ladies like.

It's really focused on the clothing that women wear today, as opposed to how the clothing we used to wear a lot of very casual.

Yeah.

Great.

How are you enjoying the transition since April of not having the studio?

Well.

I'm still teaching four days a week.

So, Mary Wire has taken over.

She's doing an amazing job.

She's just done renovations.

So that's opened me today, actually.

The new space.

That's the renovated space, I should say.

So we really have a lot of high hopes for the direction of the studio continuing.

And the shop is continuing on.

Please stop in and say hi.

The.

We have ruined what I thought was a great conversation to talk about.

But we do have.

We do have some rapid fire questions for you.

That's part of Gretchen's.

What you're not going to say.

Okay.

So these are rapid fire questions.

Okay.

Okay.

Which car would you most love to own?

Oh, gosh.

I'm such a. Are you a car person.

Beater person?

No, I don't I don't care about cars.

Very much.

You could see if you saw mine, but, I have seniors in.

Your band.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Not too much.

If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing, what would it be?

Why would it be my company?

Yeah.

Matt.

Killer.

Let's say.

Right on speed dial.

Is that your actual.

Yes, sir.

Sure.

Okay.

Which TV show would you love to be featured in?

Well, pretty much made line.

My life today.

You guys.

Know more.

This is, you know, more meditation.

This is it.

Yeah.

That's right.

The top of the pyramid.

It's not Dateline, is it?

Maybe.

Yeah, sure.

That story is.

What would yours be?

Boy, what if it might be vice?

Yes, absolutely.

I would be Mary Tyler.

I just want to drive Tubbs around.

It's so funny that you say Mary Tyler Moore.

People used to tell me when I was younger.

You look like Mary Tyler Moore.

I think that's probably why I thought of it.

Okay, last question.

Where is the worst place that you could get trapped?

Oh for sure.

In a small environment, like an elevator, I get claustrophobic.

Really?

Like, I'm fine to step in it in whatever.

But if it were to stop and I knew I wasn't getting out for a while, it might become a problem.

As we close here.

What are the risks?

What is the singular characteristic you think is the most important to be a part of a community?

Being in the community.

So with technology today, I think that we have this idea that we can be part of a community online.

And for sure there are online communities.

But the way that you interact with people when you're online, as opposed to in person with them, is very different.

And human connection has to be in person at some point.

To form a community.

With Margaret Penn, and we'll be pushing out the door as fast as we can.

Yeah.

Margaret, thanks so much for being here.

Thank you.

Gretchen.

It's nice to see you, Matt.

I'll see you soon.

Yes, ma'am.

We'll be right back with Sean and Marjorie on the second segment of the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419.

We're so pleased to be joined by Sean Burger.

See I got it right.

And Marjorie McDougall, you're here from Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Oregon.

And also Rita's soups.

So explain to our audience, the two organizations and how you're connected.

Okay.

Saint Paul's Episcopal Church has been a church since, believe it or not, 1880.

They just opened last weekend.

Yeah.

1883.

The original church was on Euclid and third burnt down in the early 1950s.

And then when they rebuilt the church in the early 1960s, they located at Queen of Our in Oregon, Ohio.

Saint Paul's has always been involved with outreach, and they follow the teachings of Christ.

And they walk the walk.

They do the work of helping, community, helping and neighbor loving thy neighbor.

We grew up in the parish.

Yeah, we grew.

Up.

Church of our childhood.

Both of us.

She moved to Cleveland.

I. Was it to get away from your friend?

Yes.

I just I was her birthday present.

That's right.

That's right.

Yeah, but we can talk about that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, so Saint Paul's has several different outreach programs.

Rita's soups.

My brother Quinn and my mom loved to cook.

And my brother is a chef.

And he went to Oregon.

Clay High School's culinary arts program.

Was a military cook.

They always wanted to do some type of food outreach.

My mom sadly passed away in 2020 of terminal cancer.

Quinn then thought, why can't I start something?

So he presented his program to the church.

They approved it.

So in March of 2021, we did our first reading soups.

We do it on the third Saturday of every month.

We deliver to homebound people for multiple reasons.

Not just because they can't drive.

We have many people that are widowers that have never driven.

We have people that, come in and dine at 11:00 in the morning.

It is not a financially based need.

Through doing this, we found out that there's a bigger need out there.

People want fellowship.

They want community.

And by just sitting down and having a bowl of soup and talking to somebody, just, makes everybody's day.

Rita was your mother's name?

Yeah.

I, I reading through the notes before I know I knew your mother.

Did you?

Yes.

My mom knew a lot of people.

Yes.

It was.

It was and continues to be a great woman.

So having this in in her name is, is certainly appropriate.

So I'm sure you're very proud, as I know she was of your brother who was a first rate character.

Yeah, but a very talented chef and cook.

Yeah.

So, out of curiosity, it is one thing to be sort of forced to go to church as a kid, right?

And then understand the principles of it.

But you to have dedicated, most of your life to these principles.

Margaret Pin was just on prior to you and talked a little bit about community, but I'm curious.

Why this all of this matter?

I started out.

I had hoped to become an Episcopal priest.

As everyone does.

Yeah.

Well, see.

And so when I went to University of Toledo, I wrote my own program at University College to try to go to seminary, because, of course, being a state university, I couldn't get everything I needed.

Sure.

And then went through the process and got turned down.

So I ended up moving to Cleveland and got my ended up coming back here to get my master's degree in special education.

Okay.

And moved to Cleveland and I taught in Cleveland.

But I've always been active in the church.

And when.

I it's always spoken to you in this way.

This was brought on by your parents.

I mean, you've carried a real torch on your own.

So we we grew up going to church.

Our grandparents who were involved in the church.

And, for me, the spiritual piece of it is what was most important.

I enjoy hands on outreach.

I've never made the kind of money that would allow me to just sit and write a check.

Would you prefer that I would?

No, no, no, I can't be purchased.

I mean, but I am grateful.

So, so grateful for the people who can write the check.

But for me, I guess it's.

I mean, I taught special ed for 25 years.

It's that hands on that being there and seeing.

For.

You know, seeing for others what, you know, just a person, you know, I came would go to school and get millions of hugs every day.

Yeah.

That to me you don't get that.

I'm passing a check at the bank.

But we need those checks.

So we're talking with Sean and Marjorie from Saint Paul's Episcopal Church and Rita soup.

The thing that struck me about your information, ladies, is that this parish only has 50 members.

50 members.

And yet you serve hundreds of people with this program.

How has that developed?

How how do people come to you that need the service or want the service of Rita soups?

And how do you how do you manage it with with so few people in the parish?

So what?

So what we do is we have, you know, that's the world of technology today.

And thank God we do have places like Facebook.

We have a web, we have a Facebook page, Rita Soups.

Anybody can go and follow it.

But every month we put it out there that, you know, on the third Saturday, you know, you are free to come at 11:00 and have a lunch for free.

If you need home delivery service, they just private message me.

I'm kind of my brother.

Quinn takes the kitchen.

Margie and I get the the organization part.

Of it.

So we have a delivery schedule that we do.

Right now, we deliver to about 110 people.

That's amazing.

Good for you.

We focus in a lot on low income housing.

Okay.

We do the Oregon Senior Lofts.

We do Charles Crust Apartments.

We do the Luther Hills, senior living, program there in Oregon.

But, I mean, that's and word of mouth.

I mean, word of mouth is still one of the biggest ways to get.

Does your brother have a signature soup or one that people request the most that he makes?

Well, we do chicken noodle soup every week.

Every month, because it's just, you know, it's a staple.

But he does a plethora of soups.

I mean, his French onion is his friend China, and he does a Mexican tortilla.

We do.

I mean, if it's a soup, he makes it.

Yeah.

But chicken noodle is a staple.

And then in the summertime, in the wintertime, we go from three different soup varieties.

And then in the summer we do one soup.

But then we also do sliced ham and cheese and bread.

We will make summer salads to give people an option.

So that everything's just an awesome guy.

Frank Wright, who has he gardens 33 acres up in Michigan simply to make food for feeding.

And he brings us incredible gifts.

He's bringing us tons of he's already given us a bunch of.

That's incredible.

Yeah.

Butternut squash to have for our community Thanksgiving dinner.

So instead of sweet.

Well, you do you do have that amazing event coming up on November 21st at the church.

This is the fourth annual, community Thanksgiving meal.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, that was after our second year.

Quinn wanted to do something to thank the community because we had people from the Oregon Senior Center.

They get their meals there from Monday through Friday.

Well, Saturday, a whole group of them come down and they that Saturday they eat with us.

And so we network back with them.

We have people.

The community, several people in the Oregon City Council, Clay High School.

So as a way to thank all of our financial sponsors and our networking people.

We said, let's just open it up and see what we can do.

And it has just grown.

And this will be the fourth year.

Last year you had about 500 people.

So anyone can come to this event.

Anybody?

Anybody.

It doesn't matter.

It's just one meal per person.

We don't want someone coming in and saying, I have ten people at home and can we take the meals?

So we ask that if you're going to bring, you know, if you need those meals, we could make an exception for a few.

But generally we just want each person to come be present.

And it's a free will offering are certainly accepted, but it is not mandatory.

Nobody keeps track.

We just ask, what.

Is it about, sharing a meal with someone in particular that that connects connects people that are and donating and the people that are in need.

What is that?

Well.

Because we're based in a church, to me it's the breaking of bread.

This is what Christ asks us to do.

But we particularly have people who come in who are alone.

And we ask our table runners, if you see somebody who's alone over talk to them, find out how it is they came to be.

And it's amazing.

Every year I've met somebody who, you know, who's just sitting by himself and, you know, you just sit down and, you know, they were just looking for a place to be and didn't.

And it just it makes a huge difference when you and you just grab your plate and sit down with them and so that they're not alone on a holiday or, you know.

What can we all do to make things a little better?

I mean, as a community, you've you've seen things through the churches eyes.

You've of everyone is experienced loss, right?

There are people who think that we talked about it.

Facebook, we people think that social media and our phones are the sign the apocalypse is upon us.

And.

But what what can we all do better?

Smile and say hi.

Yeah.

I mean, I when you're the one of the biggest things that this has made me realize is that prior to Covid, because Covid was isolation.

It really made me personally know how little my life was.

If that makes any sense.

I mean, I was director of a department, but when they said, oh, you got to stay home, I was like, wow, my life's very small.

Yeah.

And what can I do to make it bigger?

And to make it bigger is just as simple as when you're out shopping looking at somebody and I and saying, hi, how are you today?

Have a good day.

I mean, it doesn't take much to make people feel like they're important and that they matter, right?

So that's one of the biggest things that I've taken away from this program is I have met so many wonderful people over the last six years that I wouldn't have met had it not.

Been not even stuck with her forever.

That's one of the most.

We lived together.

Oh.

Interesting takes on Covid that that I've heard about.

When you take everything away, all of the social things that we couldn't do and what we actually have in our houses can seem very small and isolating.

And I think so many people have chosen just to stay that way.

Yeah.

And so this is really a call to say come back out in age with our neighbors.

Yes.

Well, when we first started reading soups, we were in the midst of Covid and we could only do takeout.

And so it was such a joy in July when we were able to finally let people come into the building and eat there.

Sure.

And that's when we like, we have one gentleman who comes in every month to get three grilled cheese sandwiches.

His wife has recently died, and he he loves the way my sister in law makes grilled cheese.

We're gonna have to go.

So he comes in.

Don't tell the secret.

Yeah, but.

I'm just.

Telling you.

Tell me about the what you wish.

It seems like from what you guys are describing, you ladies are describing, you serve a lot of seniors in particular.

What is something that you wish the community knew about the life of a senior in, in Oregon or in our community?

Maybe what a need is that that we can help with.

Well, the the people that we, we deliver to them because they don't have the opportunity to always get out.

I don't know if they don't some of them don't drive.

But I think it's that there is a sense of they've been forgotten and it's they, when they can get out there, so grateful to be able to get out and have a place to go.

Right.

And one of the things that for us, this is important is it's the only feeding program that we know of.

It's on the weekends in Toledo, Northwood or East Toledo, Northwood, Oregon.

So we hope eventually to be able to network and maybe get somebody else out there to pick up maybe one Saturday a month, do pancake breakfast.

Right.

Something just.

To.

Help people realize that there are ways to get out in the community because so many people are alone.

Yeah.

I mean, yeah.

And it I know I lived in Cleveland for years and I've always been alone.

And there are places you don't want to go by yourself and you have to make yourself do it.

I think the older you get, the the harder it is to put yourself out there all the time.

So you are.

Your organization is run completely by donations.

And can you tell us a little bit about where people can go to find more information about about both about both organizations?

Well, Rita Soups has a web page on its own or not web page, Facebook page.

And everything we do is there.

Saint Paul's Episcopal Church has a web page website.

And again, Saint.

We've been focused most on Rita soups, but they do all kinds of other things.

We have food for thought there, which is the second Tuesday of every month.

People can come in and again the same thing.

You don't have to necessarily justify that.

You need groceries.

You just check in so that they make sure you only get to one of the stations during the month.

And these people are so grateful to get to take home almost a week worth of groceries.

And then.

We also have our Dorcas program, which is a group of men and women that crochet and knit.

Wonderful.

We have a gentleman, Dwight Giddings, who has to date knitted 3000 cancer caps for people.

It's Duane.

Duane.

I'm sorry.

I worked with his brother.

That's his professional knitting game.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, brother.

And then we.

Housewares giveaway.

Program.

Which we have many people that donate, whether they have a family member that passes or they're just purging.

Yeah.

They can bring their housewares to us.

And about every quarter we have a free housewares giveaway.

It's important.

I mean, it's when you we have, like, 45 people.

And I'm going to tell you, I'm probably one of the youngest members at 65.

Our average age is about 70.

And these people walk the walk.

I mean, they if you say, hey, we need help.

I mean, they're there, and I mean, they're there for hours.

Well, it's just the two of you feel uncomfortable, but you to certainly walk the walk.

Thank you very much for joining us.

Thank you.

Everything you're doing.

Please check out the Facebook and website as articulated.

And we'll be back with Aaron Kramer, the city councilwoman at large.

Okay.

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Welcome back into the 419.

We're so pleased to now be joined by who I believe is the newest elected member of Toledo City Council at large.

Aaron Kramer, thank you for being here.

Of course.

Good morning.

I'm happy to be here.

And there's a lot of things to talk about because you are a very busy person in our community, and you know how much I think of you.

But in case somebody is watching or listening that doesn't have an understanding for city council.

City council at large means what?

Yeah.

So that means that I represent residents throughout the entire city.

So on city Council, there are 12 of us.

There are six of us who are at large.

So every resident of Toledo has seven members of council representing them.

So they have a district person.

So there are six district people on council as well.

And then there's six at large.

So the district folks represent a very specific district of the city.

And what is your who is your least favorite member of council?

Oh no, I'm not going to match day.

We'll put it up on screen.

Yeah.

No, no I'm.

Just doing from these meetings.

I and again quickly because there's a lot to get to.

But talk to us about the nuances of both.

You've had experience only at large right.

So it's speculative but you are all in it together.

So there has to be things that are advantages or to some degree, challenges of not having a district.

Can you walk?

Sure.

Yeah.

So Adam Martinez is my district council person who's district two.

So I knew him a little bit beforehand, but I, you know, in talking to the district members, I do know they're hyper focused on the local.

Sure.

And people know them, their in their communities, their in their neighborhoods.

And that's a great thing because they're invited to all kinds of things, you know, and they really get to know the residents of that specific area.

And since I am the whole city, you know, that's 270,000 votes.

So it's a little harder to get to know people.

But I really try to ingratiate myself in the neighborhoods, just like the district people do.

I try to go to block watch meetings and get to know folks.

But one of the things that is a little bit nice is I don't always get, you know, when there's a pothole or there's a branch in the street or there's, you know, I don't get those.

Little more macro than macro.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Now, you, like I said, you were recently elected for a four year term back in 2025.

Municipal elections are in odd years.

But you also have another a completely different full time job.

I do.

And so tell us about that.

You're the director of admissions at Owens Community College?

Yes.

Yeah.

So I've been the director of admissions at Owens Community College since July of 2019.

It's a job that I really love.

So I'm very lucky that I can do both things.

Yeah.

And so far, so good.

It's working out really well.

But I really love it.

And I love Owens.

It's such a great institution and it's so great.

We have had eight consecutive semesters of enrollment growth.

I can't be here and not say that.

Yeah, sure.

We've been growing and growing.

Let's just say thanks to you.

I mean, you know, we have a really great team in enrollment management.

Yeah.

Yeah, and a great leader.

Yeah.

Doctor Summerville is exceptional.

Yes.

Yes.

We have.

Yes.

I, I, I don't know the answer to this.

But I met you or we I became familiar with you through Moms Demand Action.

Talk to me a little bit about that.

Cause how it how and why that is so important to you.

Yeah.

So I got involved in Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in about 2017.

And for me, it was as an educator and as a mom.

Okay.

So I started seeing all those school shootings all over the country.

And I was like, is someone doing something about this?

Sure.

You know, there's just so many guns in America and it's so easy to access them.

And it seemed like legislators weren't really doing anything.

And so I found this organization, and it was founded by Shannon Watch, who was just a mom, you know, and she started this Facebook group and it grew.

And now there are volunteers.

There's chapters in every state in the United States.

And it helped me to find my voice in a way that I don't think I would be sitting here if it wasn't for moms.

We have a local chapter here in Ohio.

And I just met so many amazing people.

So some of the things that moms does.

We have gun sense candidates that we, it's sort of like an endorsement.

And so I started working on behalf of those gun sense candidates in Ohio.

Erica White was one of them.

Michelle Graham.

And so then we would also have, like, a legislative day where we would go down to Columbus and we would talk to legislators and we would get really involved in legislation around keeping our neighborhood safe, around gun safety.

And so that was something that I, I'm just really passionate about as an educator.

But as a mom, you know, I remember when my kids were little and they started having all of these drills and trainings, and they had the parents in and and it was all new for all of us.

And I remember going in and they were like, okay, so if someone comes in, then all the kids will throw staplers and markers.

And I was like, what?

Yeah.

I was incredulous.

Like, this is our solution to this problem.

I, I just had such a hard time with that.

I'm sure it's frustrating as a as a municipal elected official as opposed to federal one.

There's, you know, the law is complicated and in many ways intentionally so.

But there's little that at a city level we can do to change the gun laws.

Yes.

But what are you finding and what are the Moms Demand Action finding as it relates to this focus on safety.

What are specific things that you have been able to put in place in communities that are working?

Yeah.

So we're not one of these.

So, safe gun storage is huge and it saves lives.

It's shown that it saves lives.

So in April, I put in place it's something called lock save Lives.

And in this program, I'm working with the Toledo Lucas County Public Library System, which, you know, we love, as well as the VA in Ann Arbor, the Veterans Administration.

And we are we now have gun locks for free in every branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library.

That's amazing.

And so anyone can just go and get two gun locks.

As long as you're 18, but you don't require any kind of ID or anything.

And the library has been an amazing partner in this as well as the VA.

So the VA has provided us with these gun locks for free.

And so it doesn't cost the taxpayers anything, but it's keeping people safe.

Yes.

So, you know, it's making sure that little kids don't have access to guns.

It's making sure that maybe folks who are having a mental health emergency don't have access to a gun.

These require a key.

So sometimes people are like, well, I need to access my firearm really quickly.

These open up a conversation about safe storage and why it's important not to just stick your gun under your mattress.

Right.

You know, go on Amazon, go to, you know, your sporting goods store and find a nicer gun lock if that's what you want.

But the conversation needs to be please lock up your gun.

In terms of conversation with kids in particular.

So much of the fascination with guns or wanting to touch a gun, or shoot a gun or own a gun or.

It's wrong minded in many ways.

But what age does moms demand?

Or do you believe that a conversation about guns with kids should be happening?

Good question.

Yeah.

Any time, like all the time, you know?

Yeah.

As soon as you can have that conversation.

And moms has some great resources online about how to talk to your kids, how to talk to other parents about guns.

Because taking that, you know, fascination out of it and talking about, you know, we're not anti-gun by any means.

You know, talk to your kid, maybe teach them if you are a hunting family or fear a family, that you really want to make sure your kid knows how to to shoot and to be accurate with that.

You know, teach your child about guns so that that fascination isn't there.

We're speaking with Aaron Kramer, Toledo City Council, woman at large.

Speaking of safety in the news recently was the failure of voters to pass the public safety levy.

That we've heard or we've been told that that's going to cause some hardships as it relates to the budget and the public safety budget specifically.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Has have plans been put in place to address the shortfall?

So there's a lot of conversations and really right away, you know, as soon as that failed.

We were all a little scrambling like, okay, now what do we do?

And the mayor's office had prepared two budgets, one in case it passed and one in case it failed.

So, you know, we're we're working on it.

It's going to be tough.

When I was elected last year, I was sworn in on January 2nd, and the budget process was already in full swing.

So I kind of came in mid budget process, but I was there and we had to make a lot of hard decisions last year.

Yeah.

And this year it's going to be even harder.

And you know last week at our council meeting, council president Vanness Williams said, you know, we are going to be uncomfortable in terms of, you know, city government.

We don't want our residents to be uncomfortable.

We want them to have all of the services that they need.

But we are going to have to make some difficult decisions and it's going to be tough.

I anticipate we'll get the budget.

We have to have it by November 15th, so we should be getting it pretty soon.

And you know, I'm hoping that we don't have to make too many horrible cuts.

But I mean, it's.

It's a math equation.

It it is.

Yeah.

It's not a fun thing.

It's not a fun part of being on council is.

Yes.

So I do want to talk a little about activism.

You know, there Gretchen asked a good question about when is the right time to talk about, gun safety and just guns, period.

But when is the right time to be an activist?

I mean, you are very energetic person.

I think that fits the role of all the roles.

Certainly.

But you were born into a union family.

Talk to me a little bit of household that, that that births and and molds and activists.

Yeah.

So I. Read your poor child here.

I know, I know.

Yeah, yeah.

He's in it, right?

Yeah, yeah.

My parents, they always had the news on when I was growing up.

Like, I always knew what was happening locally as well as nationally.

We talked about that.

Okay.

Which it was funny to me as I grew up, I started realizing, like, every family wasn't like that.

Every kid didn't even know who their parents voted for.

Right.

So I thought that was kind of funny.

Now.

Where did you.

Grow up?

I grew up in South Toledo.

Okay.

Yeah.

Beverly neighborhood?

Yeah, sure.

Great.

Yeah.

So I when I was in high school, I volunteered for mayor McCue, his campaign.

And then actually.

You're.

In the Sea Corps campaign.

I was.

Yeah.

They make fun of me for being old all.

The time.

Well, we don't.

I know when I say mayor, you were like.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

This is a while ago.

But I also, in my senior year, like my senior project, I went and worked for Marcy Kaptur office for a week, and that was an amazing experience.

Yeah.

So, you know, I've been involved, kind of all my life.

I got a little busy when I was a single mom with three little kids, so I didn't have a lot of time to think about all that.

But then, really, Moms Demand Action kind of got me back into it and got me, really motivated to make change.

And I was doing a lot for other candidates.

And then a couple of years ago, there were some appointments on council, there were some openings, and I was like, oh, I'm.

Going to.

Do this.

Yeah, yeah.

And then when I didn't get it.

Adam Martinez actually said, now you have to run.

That's right.

Yeah.

And I did.

You want and I want, yeah.

When you think about your, constituent or the person that you're working for on Toledo City Council, do you have a, an image of a person in mind or, or what that person might need or want from you?

Yeah.

That's so interesting.

So my mom, who is, you know, an activist also, she walked a lot of neighborhoods with me and knocked doors as I was running for office.

She's picketing the show right now.

She could be.

She could be out there.

It's kind of early.

Okay.

I don't know, but the one image that sticks with me, there was a gentleman, and he was in a neighborhood down Hogue Street.

And he was sitting on his porch, and we were kind of walking down, and he was all fenced in and a lovely home.

And I went down and I was, you know, chatting with him.

And he was just, kind of jaded.

He was like, people don't come down here.

People don't care about us.

What are you going to do for our neighborhood?

And I always remember that when I'm making choices, when I'm up on the dais at council, I think about people like him that are here in Toledo.

And he's lived here his whole life.

Raised his family here.

Now he's living by himself in his beautiful home.

And I think about that, and I think about how much people love our city, and people take pride in our city.

And I need to make sure that I'm a representative for.

Well, there's no better equalizer or or or way to get to know the city than to go on the doors when you're campaigning.

So.

Aaron, thank you so much for being here.

We could talk to you for another 20 minutes, but we're out of time.

Where can people find you?

What's your email at?

City.

City council?

Yeah.

Aaron kramer@toledo.gov.

Right now.

Thank you so much for being here.

We'll be right back on the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419.

I mean we say this I feel like we say this every show, but that was another great show talking to some just purely delightful people.

Yeah, sure, it wasn't intentionally this way, but the the through line, of course, was community based, right?

So a lot of different people doing different things, but they all smoked about community.

They all spent an overwhelming amount of their own time.

Talent and treasure.

And I think it also we talked a little bit about happiness with Margaret at the beginning.

And.

And it's true that, you know, these people have found purpose in supporting others.

So I, I'm not surprised by that.

I do happen to know them, although I did not know, the two ladies from the church, but I'm not surprised that their answers were charming.

An interesting take on Covid, right?

Because if we don't take those positives things from that experience, and that's not to, you know, be flippant about the fact that people lost their lives.

But if we don't look at that time and turn back into ourselves, all we have is the loss.

And I think it's every one of them, and I don't again, this wasn't intentional, but every one of them talked about the social media aspect as opposed to the in-person aspect where we're polarized on social media, the algorithms make it so so that you think the world is like that, but when you go out into the community and you meet people and talk to people, that's when really your perspective about this kind of stuff can change.

Yeah.

I mean, there was an overwhelming sense of gloom and doom either, there was 50 people that helped run that church.

The one mentioned that she was the youngest of 65, but she wasn't talking about Facebook being the sign of the apocalypse.

Right?

It's just another mechanism for them to connect.

It shouldn't be the only tool right in your quiver, but it it it was nice.

And again, it is nice to have a conversation about somebody who is a small business owner that moved from New York, that drank the Kool-Aid.

Her words to people who are delivering Thanksgiving meals to Aaron Kramer, who picked up Moms Demand Action.

Not as real as some cataclysmic loss, right?

But as a result of the fact that she thinks that things can be done better.

So pretty great, pretty great show.

I know, Kevin, which was made.

It made it the best ever.

I do feel very fortunate that we were able to have these conversations.

Thank you all for joining us.

If you want to catch the show, you can catch us every day at FM 91 at 3 p.m.

on on E HD, channel 30.1 at 5 p.m.

you can also always find us on the GTA app.

We'll see you tomorrow on the 419.

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