Cedars - Opinion: Battle for CHRISTmas is Misled

My first and only op-ed of the semester appeared in the December issue of Cedars. Should we really trying to keep Christ in Christmas? Do we even need to? Read it here.

Cedars - In Court: The Next Four Years

For the December issue of Cedars, I did a story on what might be happening in the Supreme Court during Obama's second term.

In Clifton, Lazorski has deep connection to parents

CLIFTON – Paula Lazorski has traveled to Canada, Brazil and Europe. She has worked as a traveling nurse, taking three-month assignments in different places. And prior to that, she spent 10 years off and on doing medical work at a Navajo and Hopi Native American reservation in Arizona.

But now, Lazorski is back where she grew up – in Clifton.

“I came back here when [my] folks started getting older,” Lazorski said, “and I just decided it was a good place to stay. You’re either a small town girl or you’re not.”

Lazorski’s parents, Paul and LaVeda Lazorski – who died in 2006 and 2011 respectively – also thought Clifton was a good place to stay when they first discovered the village before moving there in 1962. And Paul and LaVeda have passed on more to Lazorski than the village they called home for much of their lives.

First is their actual home. The Lazorski family has lived in the same house since they moved to Clifton. When the family first visited the town, they saw the house for sale and really liked it, and Lazorski said her mother got it for her birthday.

“Mom and Dad always wanted a big house to raise all the kids, and so they got it,” Lazorski, who has four siblings, said. “And so I think I was two when we moved here, and this is the only home I know.”

Lazorski said she inherited the house from her mother after she died.

“She left the house to all five children, and because I had taken care of her since 2006 when my dad had his stroke,” Lazorski said, “then she gave me a life residency option, which means I can live here as long as I maintain and take care of it.”

She loves the house.

“I love the sense of belonging,” Lazorski said. “I love the historical factor. I like old homes. Even the architecture, you know, the 12-inch baseboards. You don’t see that. And those were handcrafted. That wasn’t done on a mass machine.”

The house wasn’t built in only three months, like houses are today, Lazorski said. But despite the quality of the home, Lazorski said it is not perfect: the wall corners aren’t square, it has three different styles of woodworking, and the house is hard to heat.

“Are you warm or cold right now because there’s a breeze going through here,” Lazorski said, laughing.

“I like all the quirks,” she said.

The home and all those quirks sit at the top of the hill on the north end of Clay Street. And it is by this hill and the Lazorski family name that some people know the house. She said she just switched insurance agents and when she asked her agent if he knew where she lived, he said, “Yeah, you live on Lazorski Hill.”

And during Lazorski’s childhood, the hill was also the home of Clifton’s mayor, as Lazorski’s father Paul served in the position. Her mother LaVeda was also active in the community, helping to start the historical society, the ladies’ auxiliary group and the senior citizen’s group as well as serving on various school boards. She even served as president of the Ohio School Board Association and eventually the National School Board Association, according to her obituary.

And Lazorski, a two-time village councilwoman, has been active in the community just like her parents.

“I know she cares a lot,” said Sharon Benedict, a village councilwoman who has known Lazorski for about 11 years. “She participates in every activity the village has.”

Benedict, who met Lazorski at Clifton United Presbyterian Church, said when the village is decorated for Christmas, Lazorski’s house has more lights than any place in town besides Clifton Mill.

“It’s not just words,” Benedict said of Lazorski’s love for the village. “It’s actions.”

Krista Harding, who is younger than Lazorski and has known her all her life, said Lazorski was a cheerleader that she looked up to. She also said Lazorski used her piano skills when Harding’s mom, who was the choir director at Clifton Presbyterian, needed someone who could play difficult music really well.

“Paula would be the one she’d call,” Harding said.

Not only is Lazorski active in the Clifton community like her parents were, she said she often hears that she reminds people of her mom LaVeda.

“I’m just like, ‘Okay, I don’t think that’s a bad thing,’” Lazorski said.

Benedict said LaVeda and Lazorksi have similar personality traits.

“She’s strong, she’s opinionated, and she’s very energetic,” Benedict said of Lazorski, saying LaVeda was also strong and opinionated. “She’ll fight for what she believes in, I do believe.”

Lazorski’s mom left her more than just these character qualities. She also left her a love of Clifton history. Lazorski said her mom was always interested in history and was very well read, so when the family moved to Clifton, LaVeda started finding out about the village’s past.

“She just had a lot of resources available to her,” Lazorski said, “and I just stuck by and tried to pull it out of her.”

Lazorski said her mom would always take her and her siblings to historical locations and that LaVeda even did some historical work with Fred Marshall - a Greene County historian who died in 1974, according to the Fred F. Marshall Papers at Wright State University.

Lazorski said one aspect of Clifton history she has enjoyed is the village’s relationship to the Shawnee Native Americans.

“I did a lot of that study, which actually led me to when I wanted to go to the reservation and work was because of those early interests,” Lazorski said, “and a lot of the Native Americans around the area.”

But while Lazorski caught her mom’s love for Clifton’s past, her sister, Lisa Pyon, did not.

“I’m interested in history. She isn’t,” Lazorski said. And Pyon said she does not feel like she had to be interested in Clifton history or the family’s lineage because Lazorski always was.

“I like to hear when she learns about it,” Pyon said, “but I don’t have that.”

Lazorski, who was on the village council from 1991-1994 and then joined again this year, said her knowledge of Clifton has come in handy in this work with the village. While she is not on the village planning commission, she attends the commission meetings.

“They want me there because I can remember, you know, a couple generations of people who’ve come and gone through here,” Lazorski said, “and what houses were where.”

Benedict said Lazorski’s knowledge of Clifton is helpful when the council is talking about whether to repair a house or tear it down. If the house is historically significant, this will play into their decision.
And if it is significant, Lazorski will know, Benedict said.

While Lazorski has inherited a lot from her parents, she isn’t the only one living in her house that has been influenced by family. Her cat, Millie, inherited the name from Lazorski’s Aunt Millie.

“She was your typical little old rich lady that had 50 cats,” Lazorski said.

But the feline Millie is not one of those cats.

“That was my mother’s cat,” Lazorski said. “I inherited her, too.”

About Paula Lazorski

Birthday: Nov. 24, 1959
Birthplace: Richmond, Ind.
Occupation: Homecare nurse
Hobbies: Cooking, gardening, playing piano
Siblings: Sherry, Rebecca, David and Lisa