WORTH NOTING
On the Go in Ice & Snow
A half-filled jug of water tied to a rope.
That’s my dad’s winter emergency road kit. The way he sees it, the weighted jug will come in handy if he needs to rescue someone who’s fallen through an icy pond. It’s light enough to throw; water gives it heft. He’s 90 and an Eagle Scout, so his reasoning makes sense.
Dad’s jug on a rope didn’t make the cut in AAA’s list. Maybe they don’t have an Eagle Scout on staff. Their suggestions listed below are good to review nonetheless.
- Mobile phone pre-programmed with rescue apps and important phone numbers, including family and emergency services, and car charger
- Drinking water
- First-aid kit
- Non-perishable snacks for both human and pet passengers
- Bag of abrasive material (sand, salt, cat litter) or traction mats
- Snow shovel
- Blankets
- Warm clothing (gloves, hats, scarves)
- Flashlight with extra batteries
- Window washer solvent
- Ice scraper with brush
- Cloth or roll of paper towels
- Jumper cables
- Warning devices (flares or triangles)
- Basic toolkit (screwdrivers, pliers, adjustable wrench)
Find more winter driving tips at AAA.com.
A Climb Like No Other
Local Man Conquers Empire State Building
Unlike most others his age, 74-year-old Silver Lake resident and business owner Daniel Moneypenny loves climbing stairs. So much so that he recently raced up the 1,576 stairs of the Empire State Building to its 86th Floor Observatory as part of the Empire State Building Run-Up (ESBRU) in New York City.
The 46th annual event in October included more than 1,000 elite and everyday runners as well as athletes with disabilities, with times ranging from 10 to 59 minutes. In his third ESBRU, Moneypenny achieved a personal best, 25:54, beating his 2023 and 2022 times of 26:50 and 29:17.
“I’m getting older and faster,” says the cancer and open-heart surgery survivor who trains year-round in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “I’ve been doing steps for 22 years. For this event, I do between 7,000 and 9,000 steps a week at locations such as Kendall Lake, Everett Road Trail and Brandywine Falls. For wintertime training, I have tools for chopping the ice to ensure safe footing.”
Why the commitment to stair climbing?
“I’ve always enjoyed the hills and inclines that challenge runners during road races,” says Moneypenny, who ran the Boston and Cleveland marathons, hundreds of 10k races and cross country at the University of Akron under the GI bill after serving during the Vietnam War as an Army paratrooper stationed in Germany. There he belonged to the 12-person United States Army Prix LeClerc team, which competed in what is considered to be The Olympics of the Infantrymen.
“Once you’re trained up for an event, it’s all mental,” says Moneypenny, president/chief creative officer of his branding/ideation firm, Emaginit. “With the ESBRU, all I have to do is endure being extremely uncomfortable for about 25 minutes.”
And in case you’re wondering if Moneypenny plans to do ESBRU again next year, the answer is yes.
If you find endurance challenges appealing, contact ESBRU at esbru.com to enter its lottery. That’s right, the event is so popular that a lottery determines who gets to participate. What’s more, the entry fee is $175.
Runners can bypass the lottery and run with #TeamCAF after submitting a charity fundraising entry form found online at challengedathletes.org. CAF is short for Challenged Athletes Foundation and serves as the official charity partner of the ESBRU.
Correction: The photo in the print magazine version of this article featured a photo of the author misidentified as Daniel Moneypenny. Our apologies.
Kid Leo Road Trip
On a recent drive to Pittsburgh, I got reacquainted with a familiar voice from my WMMS/high school radio days: Kid Leo.
The iconic DJ who was the voice of Cleveland rock in the ‘70s at WMMS, popped up on my car radio when I was poking around for a satellite radio station on my SiriusXM account. Kid Leo hosts Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Channel 21. After spending 16 years at WMMS, he took a job at Columbia Records, then formed his own company, and ultimately landed at Sirius XM.
Fifty years in 90 miles. Who knew a road trip could cover that much ground?
Page-Turners: Cozy Winter Reads
If you want to know what to read, ask a librarian. That’s what we did.
These books, just coming out, are on Mary Olson’s radar. She’s the readers’ advisory librarian for the Medina County District Library, so she should know.
Have fun.
The Author’s Guide to Murder
By Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White (November 2024)
This is an atmospheric meta-mystery set in a Scottish castle where three writers are vacationing together, putting the final touches on their book about the long-ago murder of the castle’s owner. But when the current owner, himself an eccentric superstar novelist, is found dead, the writers find themselves as suspects in the investigation.
The Jewel of the Blues
By Monica Chenault-Kilgore (November 2024)
Family drama, romance and suspense combine in this novel set in the Jazz Age, when a young woman’s rise to music fame is threatened by her family’s secrets.
Trouble Island
By Sharon Short (December 2024)
Enjoy this gripping historical mystery based on events in the author’s family during the 1930s on an island in the middle of Lake Erie. Sharon Short will be presenting at Brunswick Library on Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
We All Live Here
By Jojo Moyes (February 2025)
When her father—whom she hasn’t seen or talked to in 35 years—appears on her doorstep, Lily’s already complicated life takes a turn for the worse. But sometimes, what seems to be an unwelcome development turns into a lesson about the meaning of family.
The Quiet Librarian
By Allen Eskens (February 2025)
Hana is the titular quiet librarian, living a peaceful life in Minnesota until detectives inform her that her best friend has been murdered. Now guardian for her friend’s grandson, Hana knows her dark secret is the reason her friend is dead. Hana was a teen in war-torn Bosnia 30 years ago, and to survive the war and avenge her family’s deaths, decided to become a killer. The only way to protect the boy may be to become that killer again.
The Crime Brulee Bake-Off
By Rebecca Connolley (February 2025)
Baking, romance and mystery combine in this charming novel. Claire Walker is a contestant on Britain’s most popular baking show, held on the grounds of Blackfirth Park. When a contestant is found dead, Claire and the estate’s custodian, Viscount Jonathan Ainsley, must put aside their blooming romance to solve the crime.
And one more…
Northeast Ohio is bursting with book authors. One recent example is Westlake resident and award-winning writer Kristine Meldrum Denholm, who’s out with her first book, “Yesterday’s Song, a Novel.”
Denholm says, “It’s the story of a ‘70s singer-songwriter whose song holds the story of a secret remorse. What happened all those years ago—and is there any hope for a second chance? It’s also about the power of good old-fashioned pop music to heal and connect us with others.”
Denholm includes a scene that she says Cleveland rock fans will enjoy. “Yesterday’s Song, a Novel” is available on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. An e-book version is also available on Kindle, Nook and Kobo. One more thing: the novel comes with a link to the ’70s playlist and book club discussion questions.
