Celebrate Portage: Community leaders recognized for their service

Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier
·3 min read

A 97-year-old author and community activist, a program that taught students to be engaged in their community and a nutrition program at an area hospital were among the honorees at Thursday's Celebrate Portage awards.

The awards dinner, which took place at the NEW center at Northeast Ohio Medical University, celebrates "Portage County's best and brightest."

Awards were given for Community Hero, Community Improvement, Community Service, Health Initiative, Employee of the Year and Youth Initiative.

Here are the winners:

Community Hero

Deseree Liddell reads portions of her memoir, “The Higher You Climb, the Broader the View,” during a presentation at the Portage County Historical Society in Ravenna.
Deseree Liddell reads portions of her memoir, “The Higher You Climb, the Broader the View,” during a presentation at the Portage County Historical Society in Ravenna.

Deseree Liddell was the recipient of the Community Hero award. Liddell, 97, is the author of “The Higher You Climb, the Broader the View: From the Jim Crow South to a Thriving Northern Community.” The book chronicles her journey from the Jim Crow South to Ravenna, where she became a community leader and brought attention and resources to the historically underserved and majority Black Skeels and McElrath communities in Ravenna Township.

Portage Street in the Skeels neighborhood is being renamed Deseree Liddell Boulevard in her honor.

Other nominees for the award included Debbie Sunderland is the board president and curator for the Portage County Historical Society; Gina Fischione, a Streetsboro hair stylist who saved her client's life by calling EMS for her; Jordan Michael of Rootstown; Jonathan Floyd of Ravenna and Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski.

Community Improvement

Ravenna High School seniors Drayden Winning (left) and Morgan Skala give their presentation to guests of the Honors Ravenna Civics class symposium held at the high school.
Ravenna High School seniors Drayden Winning (left) and Morgan Skala give their presentation to guests of the Honors Ravenna Civics class symposium held at the high school.

The Ravenna High School Honors Civics Program received the Community Improvement award. The program partnered students with community leaders to create a walking tour of Ravenna landmarks, featuring QR codes that visitors could scan with their phone. The students also did internships at government offices and reported their findings.

Other nominees for the award were Ravenna's Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area and the Portage County Board of DD and its DD Pride Month.

Community Service

Mary Ann Kasper, founder and workshop manager for the Socially Responsible Sweatshop of Kent, and Frank Kohout work at the growler bag assembly station.
Mary Ann Kasper, founder and workshop manager for the Socially Responsible Sweatshop of Kent, and Frank Kohout work at the growler bag assembly station.

The Socially Responsible Sweatshop was the recipient of the Community Service award. The program, founded in 2013, repurposes scrap fabric into usable goods, which it then sells. The nonprofit organization protects the environment by keeping thousands of pounds of linen out of landfills annually and all of the money garnered from sales of its products are used in Kent and surrounding communities to fight food insecurity.

Other nominees included The Haven of Portage County and the Rootstown Historical Society.

Healthy Initiatives

Director of Food and Nutrition/Clinical Nutrition Manager at University Hospitals-Sodexo Lynann Colella leads a tour of the Food for Life Market at UH Portage Medical Center, which includes a variety of canned goods, as well as produce, meat and dairy products.
Director of Food and Nutrition/Clinical Nutrition Manager at University Hospitals-Sodexo Lynann Colella leads a tour of the Food for Life Market at UH Portage Medical Center, which includes a variety of canned goods, as well as produce, meat and dairy products.

The Food For Life Market won the award for healthy initiatives. The market, located at University Hospitals Portage Medical Center, provides fresh food and counseling to patients who are experiencing food insecure.

Portage DD also was nominated for various programs, including its youth respite program and providing safety equipment.

Employee of the Year and Youth Initiative honorees.

Tim Whittlesey, road supervisor in Atwater, received the award for Employee of the Year.

Other nominees included MaryJo Cline, who works at AMETEK in Kent; Crystal Hickman of the Windham School District; John Vennetti of Portage DD; and Arasin Hughes, executive director of Main Street Ravenna.

Za'Nya Henderson of Windham High School received the Youth Initiatives award. Other nominees included Cub Scout Pack 3551 in Ravenna, which partnered with the King-Kennedy Community Center to teach youth about Black history in the McElrath community; the Running Rockets program, a youth athletic program in Streetsboro; and Main Street Ravenna's Youth Community Star of the Month program, which recognizes students for their community spirit.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Celebrate Portage: Community leaders recognized for their service