TO CELEBRATE the 90th birthday of Lakewood, Ohio's official incorporation as a city, LakewoodBuzz.com was conceived as an "online community relations experiment" by its founder in 2000.  Today, a community news, events and social website, LakewoodBuzz.com is still evolving, being developed by and for people who live, work and play in Lakewood, Ohio, our "City of Homes."

Construction, public beta roll-out and testing of Lakewood Buzz began on Thanksgiving Day 2000, then officially christened out of its beta stage on February 17, 2001, guided by Lakewood's first Community Advisory Board (CAB) for a website and its founder.  Here are the CAB members or, as they're affectionately called... the "Cabbies" who help guide the Buzz!

Rev. Paula Maeder Connor has pastored Lakewood's Trinity Lutheran Church since 1990, and she is currently chair of the Lakewood Interfaith Youth Initiative.  A former Peace Corps English teacher in Thailand, she has a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Political Science from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.  Later, she earned two degrees from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, including a Master's in Sacred Theology.  Ordained in 1978, she was one of the first five women to graduate from Trinity.  Paula has also pastored in Sugar Grove, Ohio, and served as chaplain at the Capital University Law School and the Franklin Pre-Release Center (a women's prison).  Active in the Lakewood Ministerial Association, she's also a trustee of The Lakewood Foundation.  She and her husband Rev. David Connor have two daughters, Greer and Brenna.  Paula's interests also include gardening, theater, Lakewood Music Boosters, weaving, camping, cats, liturgical art, PTA, depression glass, feminist theology and peacemaking  Pastor Paula is a charter CAB member.

John Guscott is the manager of the Electronic Services Department at Lakewood Public Library. John has worked in the public library field for nearly a decade in the fields of technology, management and reference services. He also is the editor-in-chief of Library Futures Quarterly, a newsletter dedicated to long-range planning in public libraries. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Humanities from the University of Iowa and a Master of Library Science from Kent State University. His affiliations include the World Future Society, World Transhumanist Association, Lakewood Commission on Aging, Beta Phi Mu, Eta Sigma Phi and the Extropian Institute. He also serves as an expert panelist of the George Washington University's Forecast of Emerging Technologies. John and his wife are Lakewood residents, John for 30 years!  John is a charter CAB member.

Ann Gynn is finishing her Master’s in Applied Communications, with emphasis on organizational and interpersonal communications, at Cleveland State University.  She's also a senior writer for the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, LLP.  Prior to Ann's recent return to Lakewood, she spent seven years working as a reporter and editor at the Palladium-Item, a daily newspaper in Richmond, Ind.  A Lakewood High School grad, she served as editor of its award-winning Lakewood Times. She received her Bachelor’s from Ohio University where she was editor of The Post, the daily student newspaper. She decided to return to her hometown a couple years ago to be closer to her family and friends.  Ann has since become a first-time homeowner in Lakewood!

Jim Harmon graduated from Lakewood High School in 1986, after serving as Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning Lakewood Times. A long-time resident of Lakewood, Jim earned his Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Photojournalism from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1992, and decided to go into teaching. He later earned his certificate in Secondary English from Cleveland State University. While teaching video production in the Cleveland City Schools, he earned his Master's from CSU in Computers in Education. He is currently teaching video production at Lincoln-West High School in Cleveland and is an adjunct instructor at both CSU and Baldwin-Wallace College in the area of educational technology. Jim and his wife Karen decided to stay and raise their two children in Lakewood, where they both spent their “formative years.”

Rob Hartman is president of Evidence Media, where he is a consultant specializing in the areas of Internet/information technology, finance and marketing. He holds a MBA from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management's Executive MBA Program and a Bachelor's in Business Administration degree from Ohio State University.  Rob is a charter Cabbie.

Terry Meehan is the award-winning, former East Ohio Gas audiovisual supervisor who specialized in developing, producing and directing, plus creativity and problem-solving training. He now writes about travel, coffeehouses (he's known as the "Java Man" to many readers) and film. Terry was a key volunteer in producing "Let the Sun Shine In," a video co-produced by FitzGerald with the City of Lakewood and Lakewood Neighbors. He has a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Marketing from Cleveland State, and a Liberal Studies Master's in Creative Expression in Film, Literature & Art from Kent State University. He also teaches film appreciation through the Lakewood Adult Education program and the Cleveland Film Society. When he's not writing, producing videos or teaching, Terry can be found riding his bicycle, attending folk music concerts and playing board games at the Phoenix Coffeehouse with his wife Sue. They call Lakewood home.  Terry is a charter Cabbie and also writes movie reviews for the Buzz!

Lynda Sackett is the director of Dance, Art and Education Outreach at Lakewood's Beck Center for the Arts. She is the founding director of both the dance and outreach departments. Her programming reaches more than 25,000 students a year and involves 60 teaching artists. She has developed a number of multicultural programs for which she received a City of Lakewood proclamation in 1999, and the "Volunteer Service Award" from Lakewood City Schools. She has served as honorary chairperson of the Very Special Arts Festival in 1999 and 2000. She received the "Ohio Dance Award 2000 for "Contributions to Dance Education," and the "Courage Award" from the Dystopia Foundation in 1997. She teaches tap dance at Beck Center and also guest teaches. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Baldwin-Wallace College.  Lynda is a charter Cabbie!

Community Advisory Board members meet regularly to collaborate on the evolution and direction of the website.  Are you interested in helping our community's independent website evolve more?  It's easy...

• Submit your ideas or comments by clicking here!
   

• Want to join your neighbors who receive free "Lakewood Buzzletter" news updates and community alerts by email? Then click here!
   

• If you want to advertise your business, organization, event, product or service, click here!
    

The Buzz's Creator...

Steve FitzGerald is a publisher, community relations consultant, and founder of The FitzGerald Group Inc.  Previously, he was the City of Lakewood's very first community relations official.  He has worked with United Way Services of Greater Cleveland, Sherwin-Williams Company, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and Defense & Diplomacy, to name a few.  He's past board president of Cornucopia/Nature's Bin in Lakewood and Cleveland Heights, an organization training individuals with disabilities.  He served on the steering committee for Lakewood Taxpayers for Responsible Schools.  He is a member of the LakewoodAlive Advisory Board and for many years volunteered at The Chat Room, Lakewood's nonprofit teen drop-in center. He currently serves as a Cleveland officer of the Society of Professional Journalists and advises Quill, SPJ's national magazine.  He helped start the Writers Center of Greater Cleveland, now the Poets & Writers League of Greater Cleveland, where he teaches about online writing, websites and weblogs.  He also pens "Lakewood Life" a blog for the Plain Dealer's cleveland.com website.  His degree is in Mass Media Communications from Cleveland State University.  A 28-year Lakewood resident, Steve and his family attend Bay Presbyterian Church.