A classic once again

 Randy Broadwater and Brian Powell

 Herald Staff Writers

 The fourth annual K. Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic lived up to its name once again, with crowds being treated to great matchups that resulted in three of the eight games going down to the final shot. The event raised over $59,000 for stroke awareness and research as well as for youth sports programs in the Magic City.

Game one provided a preview of what was to come throughout the two-day event held on Greynolds Floor in the Barberton High School Gym, as Wadsworth and Firestone opened play with a thriller of a game.

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 KJG Monument Release

The K. Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic Committee would like to invite the public to the unveiling of a monument in memory of the late Barberton High School basketball coach. The ceremony will take place on West Hopocan Avenue, between Second and Third Streets, at 1:00 PM on Saturday, September 20, 2008.  This location is outside the current Greynolds Gymnasium that sits inside the Lake Anna YMCA.  It is also the former site of the Barberton High School Industrial Arts Building, which housed the former Greynolds Gymnasium where Greynolds’ teams won an overwhelming number of victories in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Committee would also like to invite former Magics players and coaches to attend the dedication. Please contact Marty Bidlingmyer at 330-753-3572 or e-mail at mbidlingmyer@neo.rr.com., if you are able to attend.

The monument is being constructed by Summit Memorials, using marble salvaged from the old Barberton High School by the Barberton Historical Society.

The K. Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic is a two-day basketball showcase that takes place each December at Barberton High School to raise money for youth programs and equipment as well as stroke awareness education at the Lake Anna YMCA. This year’s event will be December 29 and 30. Tax-deductible donations to the Greynolds Classic Fund should be directed to the Barberton Community Foundation, 460 W. Paige Ave., Barberton, OH 44203.

Man credits awareness seminar for stroke alert

Rich Muller
Herald Staff Writer

A few days after Anthony and Georgia Kaluza had attended the first of three stroke awareness seminars at the Barberton Active Adult Center, the couple got to use the knowledge gained at the session, funded by proceeds from the K. Jack Greynolds Memorial Classic.

They had just come back from watching a grandchild play soccer when Anthony sat down, complaining of a really bad headache. He was just going to lay down, but Georgia, with the help of a daughter and nurse at Barberton Hospital, convinced him to go to the hospital.

Anthony said he did not think he was having a stroke, and at first, a hospital intern was treating it as a headache, but a resident doctor had him try to raise his hand and after watching that, said it was something different and started a series of tests including an MRI scan.

While at the hospital, Anthony learned he had experienced two previous strokes, ones he was not aware had occurred. The Kaluzas credit the stroke awareness seminars with showing them what to look for this time and what to do. Anthony’s stroke caused no apparent damage or impairment.

“I’d like to see them keep going,” Anthony said of the stroke awareness and other health programs continue at the Active Adult Center.

“Once you learn something, you can’t take it away,” he said, adding that anything you learn can help.
“It may save a life,” he said.

Anthony would like to see more seminars like the stroke awareness series, and for more people to attend.

The April seminars were sponsored by the Barberton Parks and Recreation, Active Adult Division; Barberton Hospital, Pleasant Pointe, Northeast Professional Home Care, and Care Source. Participants heard presentations on ways to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke, what rehabilitation and care entails, how to live health a lifestyle and other topics, including a healthy lunch after the sessions.