Did you graduate from Bluffton or CR? What year? I think you attended both schools, but could you fill me in on specifics?
I went to CR from kindergarten thru fifth grade and again in eighth grade. My sixth and seventh grades were in Findlay, and I started attending Bluffton my freshman year, graduating in 1977.
Share some stories of your years of growing up in this area...things about school, teachers, friends, extracurricular activities after school, etc. Do you stay in touch with childhood friends?
Until my fifth grade year, we lived north of town on the Dixie. I can remember hearing CKLW blaring from the speakers at the Bluffton swimming pool on summer days and riding my bike into town to my grandma and grandpa (Ray and Rosie) Reichenbach's out on West Elm Street.
I remember attending the volunteer fireman's convention in town when I was in fifth grade or so. They would cruise up and down Main Street with their equipment, and I hopped on a rig. Before I knew it, they were cruising out to their camp site at Twin Lakes near Mt. Cory! I got someone's attention and they stopped near the Bluffton Swimming Pool and I hopped off and walked back downtown. (Remember the mess in the streets after one of those "conventions"?)
On one of my first days of chemistry at Bluffton High School, Gary Brown was teaching and one of the girls in the class (who will go nameless here) got stung by a bee. Being very allergic, she promptly fell to the floor from the reaction. Mr. Brown didn't react at all, except to watch her, then slowly looked at the rest of us and asked "Does she do this often?"
I was one of the "dancers" in the musical "Lil' Abner", and Deb Greenway was my partner. She was to do a cartwheel from right-to-left, and when in front of me (upside-down in the cartwheel), I was to grab her by the waist and continue twisting her around. Once during practice her legs came flying up and whacked me on the head, knocking us both down. Thankfully that didn't happen more than once.
The football and basketball games were always great and fun to watch (and hang out at). Being the photographer for a couple of years for the yearbook I got the opportunity to go to track and cross-country meets and watch them push themselves to the limit; one picture of Dan Groman sticks out in my mind after a race he ran. He was absolutely exhausted.
I've reconnected with some of my friends from both CR and BHS thanks to Facebook. I'm looking forward to our next reunion (and would love to attend a CR reunion ... hint hint).
You went to Rhodes after high school, correct? What was your major? What did you want to do at that point (in terms of work/career)?
I majored in Applications Programming, and continued on at Franklin University (Columbus) and Point Park University (Pittsburgh). I've been in some computer-related position ever since Rhodes. My first job after Rhodes was at Memorial Hospital in Lima, leaving there to go to work for Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative (quite a mouthful then and now!). I left there to go to work for a computer company (DEC) in Dayton in 1983. I was at DEC until 1994 when we moved to Pittsburgh for a job with a company called the Genix Group. Genix was purchased by Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) in 1995, and ACS is to be purchased by Xerox in a few months. I'm currently handling the contracts management for two of our largest customers.
When did you and Becky meet? Get married?
Becky and I met in October, 1987, during a Wednesday night Bible study for our church and I literally knew "she was it." We were friends for two years, when she finally asked me on New Year's Day of 1990 if a good friend of mine thought there was anything between us. I gulped and responded "He's asked me that, and I have to admit, why isn't there?" Becky replied "I was wondering the same thing." We were engaged three months later, and married on September 29, 1990. Becky is from New Martinsville, WV.
Fill in the time between finishing at Rhodes, first job in Wapak up to where you are now - jobwise. How did you end up in Pittsburgh?
My first job was for a data entry company in Elida during college. I had to travel two to three times a week to Ft Wayne and collect/drop off documents at their customers. Second job was at Koneta Rubber Company in Wapak (right off I-75) which was actually a summer job during college. Other parts of the jobs are above.
Is Becky working outside the home? If so, what does she do?
Becky obtained her bachelor's at Cedarville (College) University in psychology. She was the director of the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Dayton when I met her and she continued working there until our first son was one year old. She's been a stay-at-home mom ever since, homeschooling our kids thru high school. She serves as the administrator of, and also teaches elementary science at Gideon Study Center, a tutorial service for homeschooling families. Both our youngest sons attend there, so she's with them which she volunteers as the administrator.
Do you live in Pittsburgh or in a suburb? Do you enjoy living in (or near) the city? What about it appeals to you? One sometimes thinks of Pittsburgh as being "dirty" as related to its steel history. Is that a false impression?
We live about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh (as the crow flies) in a very rural area, surrounded by horses, cattle, and a lone rooster somewhere to the south of us. When we moved there we called our road a "mostly paved cow path."
Pittsburgh is alive. I recently worked downtown for three years and the streets are busy with people walking to work, shops, etc. The arts district never fails to be packed on a weekend and many mid-week nights with top notch performances. Almost all of its steel past is gone. Pittsburgh has transformed itself in the past 30-some years from a dirty, grimy steel city (there are pictures taken at noon and it's so black the street lights are on) to a city leading the way in technology, and healthcare and education. The view coming into the city thru the Fort Pit tunnels and from on top of Mt. Washington (both on the west side of "the Mon" (the Monongahela River) are both stunning. And, of course, Pittsburgh needs two hands to carry all its Super Bowl rings!!
You have three sons, correct? What are their ages and interests? Ian is in college, correct?
We have three boys, Ian (17), a freshman at Grove City College majoring in electrical engineering; Seth (12) who's in seventh grade; Jesse (10) who's in fourth grade. Thankfully, they take after their mother.
What did your dad (the late Donald Moyer) teach you that you've tried to teach your own sons?
"Let your yeas be yeas and your nays be nays." If you make a commitment, you follow through on it. My dad also continued to work when he was sick (as he could at least). You don't let things get in your way; you take what you've given and you make the most of what you have.
You still have family in this area (a sis in Bluffton, mom in St. Marys?) How often do you get back to Bluffton? What do you notice when you return? How have things changed? What do you miss most about no longer living in this area?
Family is all over Ohio. My dad passed away in 1983. Mom is south of Celina with our stepdad Erwin. Michelle lives in the Akron area. Mary Ann (and husband Greg and sons Don and Ethan) live in Bluffton still. My sister, Rachel, passed away suddenly early in 2006; her husband, Mike, and sons Alex and Spencer live west of Findlay. Anjanette owns Anjanette's Chocolate Cafe & Truffle Shoppe on the town square in Troy, OH. My brother Gary and his wife, Patty, and girls Stephie, Maggie, and Jackie live south of Akron. My Uncle Keith and Aunt Harriett Moyer live in Madison WI.
We get back to Bluffton about once a year, but it's usually a quick in-and-out kind of trip. It's nice to see how little Bluffton has changed, but at the same time it's good to see what has changed. I was so pleased with the restoration of the Town Hall; it's a treasure that will last another 100 years now. I miss Gillette's Bakery on Main Street (I don't know what's there now). Rod Goldsberry and I would walk there at lunch during school and each get a donut. I miss the smell of the A&P on Main Street; the coffee grinders there and the old manual cash registers (now that's a LONG time ago). I also miss seeing the antique car show and the old tractor show that used to be held there.
I noticed that you have an interest in crewing. Tell me a bit about that. How did you get involved? Did you have to take lessons or join a team? Are you currently on a competitive team? What do you enjoy about crewing? What river do you crew on?
I had an interest in crew (rowing) for a long time. I would see shells (boats) on the rivers in Dayton, Washington, D.C., etc, and it looked so smooth (and deceptively easy). I finally got the opportunity to join the Heinz corporate team here in Pittsburgh, so I jumped at it. They provide training to the "novices" and there's a lot in each stroke. Training begins inside on "ergs" in early spring, and you hit the water early-to-mid May. The organization Heinz Crew belongs to is Three Rivers Rowing Assoc, and they all row on the Allegheny River on the north side of Pittsburgh. In the end, you get eight people in a boat, rowing in perfect synchronization for eight miles (imagine eight golfers hitting balls exactly at the same time for hundreds of swings). What I love about it is sitting four inches above the water, watching the sun rise (we hit the water at 5:30 a.m.) and hearing the clanking of the oars as they row in unison. Rowing is a full-body workout, and I was never in better shape when I was rowing. Unfortunately, since I don't work downtown anymore, I've decided to not row (it's about a 1 1/2 hour commute to/from Pittsburgh on a good day).
You also enjoy gardening, which must run in the family since your dad did some farming. What do you grow in your own garden?
My wife and I enjoy flowers and vegetables. There's nothing planned about the flowers, and we typically grow tomatoes and green beans. The tomatoes this year, however, contracted a fungus that killed the plants within a few days (it was wide-spread around this area). Out of 30 plants, we got about a dozen tomatoes. I love weeding; it provides a mindless opportunity either to not think about anything, or to focus on a particular problem, and in the end, I see the results of my efforts!
Looking toward your future, what kind of goals do you have for the next 10 years? Any chance you might end up in Bluffton?
In 10 years, my youngest will be in college, with the two oldest doing whatever they'll do after college. Hopefully by then Becky and I will be grandparents (ok, that's not in my power but one can always hope), and I'm sure I'll still be working. I would love to move back, particularly to my Moyer homestead near Mt. Cory, or where I lived while in high school out on Zurflugh Road, but we'll probably be living here with the roots we've sunk deeply in the past 15 years.
