january hudson monthly

INSIDE Do you remember the merger?PAge 8

JANUARY 2014 • $2.00

SuperintendentPhil Herman

talks about the job, life in general

2 HUDSON MONTHLY JaNUarY 2014

January 2014 HuDSOn MOnTHLy 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR4

7 HuDsOn vOIcEs

THE MERgER: 20 yEaRs LaTER

nEw kID On THE bLOck

On THE MOvE

8

By Heidi AugustinJan. 1 marks the 20th anniversary of the merger of the City of Hudson Village and Hudson township.

take a look at how things are going today.

By stepHAnie Fellensteinsettling in to his new position, superintendent phil Herman talks about school, family

and how he tries to balance it all.

By peggy sextonA Hudson family spent three years living abroad. they have now perfected the art of traveling

with young children. Find out the secret to their success.

Hudson superinten-dent pHil Herman settles into His new role.

Hudson montHly /stepHAnieFellenstein

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january2014

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Vol. 15, issue 5January 2014

1050 w. main st., Kent, oH 44240

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EDITORstephanie Fellenstein

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PHOTOgRaPHERsrobert J. lucaslisa scalfaro

HuDsOn Hub-TIMEsEDITOR

andrew adamext. 4175

cOnTRIbuTIng wRITERs

Heidi augustinpeggy sexton

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Hudson monthly is published 12 times a year by record publishing Co., david e. dix—publisher, ron waite—General manager, p.o. Box 5199, Kent, oH 44240. it is included once per month with the carrier-delivered Hudson Hub-times. mail subscriptions are available for $36 per year. no portion of this publication may be re-produced without written permission of the record publishing Co., l.l.C. © Copyright 2012 by the record publishing Co., l.l.C.


Hudson is my town. OK, so I don’t actually live in Hudson. Nor did I attend

Hudson City Schools. But for the past 12 years — almost eight years with Hudson Monthly — I have driven Hudson’s roads, attended meetings and told her stories.

I was here for the 10th anniversary of the merger. I covered hours and hours of meetings about plans for the new library and First & Main. I’ve seen new buildings sprout up on the campus of Western Reserve Academy and have toured some of the earliest structures that frame the Green. I love the his-tory that surrounds the town — both old, like David Hudson, and new, like First & Main.

And don’t get me started about the people. I have met some fantastic people over the years. I like listening to their stories and I always seem to learn something new. But with these relationships comes great responsibility. Hudsonites have entrusted us with their stories, and we are committed to retelling them in the best possible way.

That said, we’ve freshened up Hudson Monthly a bit. Actu-ally, I had very little to do with that. I sat down with RPC’s very talented graphic artist Brett Della Santina to talk about Hud-son. We met off and on for a couple months. He would leave those meetings and then, in what seemed like minutes, sheets of paper filled with ideas would hit my desk. We tweaked those ideas and this January issue is the result. (Check out the cool “passport stamp” he made on Page 17.)

We’ve also added “Hudson Voices” to our repertoire. If you, or someone you know, would like to submit an article, we would be happy to consider it for publication. Have you taken an amazing photograph recently? Send it on over to us — [email protected] — and it could be the next “Parting Shot.”

We have a lot more exciting ideas that you will see coming to fruition over the next year. Let us know what you think. Be-cause as much as Hudson is my town, it is even more yours.

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In August of 1993, after months of study, discus-sion, and community input, the “Hudson Merger Stud-ies Committee” signed off on a document that they had committed their collective time and talents into developing titled … “Conditions of Merger!” The com-mittee was made up of five citizen leaders represent-ing the City of Hudson Village and five citizen leaders representing Hudson Township. Directly thereafter, a “Citizens for Merger Committee” began distributing a flier called “The Merger: Questions and Answers.” The lead comment on the flier was … “Our future depends on what we do today.” The back of the fli-er said … “Vote To Approve Ballot Issue 16. Support the Merger.” After four previous attempts to merge the Village and the Township, the voting citizens of both political entities went to the polls and approved the merger.

It is interesting to note that when Hudson was founded in 1799 it was one political entity until 1837 when a section of Hudson was in-corporated to form the Village of Hudson. For 38 years Hudson was one entity, then for 158 years Hudson was two entities, and now, for the past 20 years, Hudson is one entity again.

Debbie and I moved to Hudson in August of 1970. Our house was located in what was then Hudson Township. In many ways the com-munity acted like one community. There was lots of cooperation be-tween the Village and the Township, such as having the administra-tive offices located in the same building, owned by the Township, hence Hudson Town Hall instead of Hudson City Hall. We were one public school system; we were one fire department; we were one EMS; but we still were not one community. We were two political communities, and it hampered us from developing in a controlled professional way.

In the second half of the ’80s and first half of the ’90s the num-ber of new housing units being built sky rocketed our population.

These new houses were predominately in the Town-ship, because there was more undeveloped land and less local authority to plan and control that growth. With merger we would truly come back to being “One Community” with one police department and city gov-ernment, only now a chartered city with all of the local authority to manage and determine our future.

Are we better today than what we might have oth-erwise been? My answer is a resounding … Yes! Be-fore merger, the calculated build out population es-timate was between 45 and 50 thousand within the two separate communities … most of that coming in the Township because there was far more undevel-

oped land and less local control. Today, because of the recodifying of our land development ordinances, that estimate is now reduced to 26 to 28 thousand (2010 census: 22,262), much more manageable with lots more open space, and with many more public parks. I do not believe we would have been able to enhance our beautiful down-town with the “First & Main” project (on October 9th, 2014 we will celebrate its 10-year anniversary) if we had not become one com-munity. We would not have been able to merge our two very good police departments into the one outstanding Hudson Police Depart-ment which serves all of Hudson today.

Additionally, the fabulous improvement of the Hudson Library and Historical Society facilities would probably never have happened on the scale that was accomplished. Our roadways and watersheds are much improved. Our schools now can work more collaboratively and successfully with our merged community. Our form of local gov-ernment absorbed the best of what we once had and is now compe-tently serving all of Hudson. But most importantly, to me, we truly are one community. Just look at the accomplishment of philanthropically building Hudson Memorial Stadium! So, as Harvard professor Robert Putnam entitled his 2003 book … we truly are … “Better Together!”

20-year anniversary of hudson merger — are we better?

BY MaYor WilliaM a. Currin


Jan. 1, 2014, will mark the 20th anniversa-ry of the merger that united the City of Hud-son Village and Hudson Township. Hudson res-idents who lived in town at the time may recall something about the contentious atmosphere. They might remember the disagreements, for example, or that there was a vote, but now, 20 years later, many are often unable to put their finger on the whys and wherefores of an issue that once was the talk of the town.

And, in a city that has its share of transient population, many who live here now have little or no firsthand knowledge of this merger. But others, who believed that the merger was an ill-conceived idea, still oppose the systems that have resulted from the changes.

First a little history

When Hudson was formally incorporated into a township in 1802, it was part of Trumbull County and encompassed 25 lovely square miles of rolling hills and pasture. According to current Hudson Mayor William Currin, found-er David Hudson had four pillars on which he hung his hopes for this new town located with-

in the Connecticut Western Reserve. They were family, faith, education and entrepreneurship. It would seem that those timeless goals still form the warp and the weave that binds Hudson and its residents together.

In 1837, the Village of Hudson declared its independence from the township, an act which granted local control to the village while the township remained under state control. The village had powers to levy income taxes, con-trol growth, and enact zoning regulations. The Ohio Revised Code later granted some home rule powers to the township.

While the two entities shared a school sys-tem, they had separate police forces. There is even a photo in the vestibule of Town Hall of two adjacent doors — one for the village, one for the city. And, ironically, the tan and green Italianate building that sits squarely in the mid-dle of the former village was once owned by the township. Today the building is used for Council and planning meetings, but the city of-fices moved to the Municipal Services Center on Executive Parkway in March 2013.

The two communities coexisted for about

100 years, until 1957, when studies were con-ducted to investigate the pros and cons of a merger. The issue appeared again on ballots in 1974, 1980 and 1988, but failed by various margins and for various reasons.

By 1990, the census revealed that the pop-ulation of the village was at 5,000 residents, while the township had swelled to nearly 12,000. The Village became the City of Hudson Village, and village leaders were concerned that the township, which geographically en-capsulated them, was expanding too quickly.

According to Currin, “between 500 and 600 homes were being built in Hudson a year.”

“We were growing at a rate of 3 1/2 to 5 percent,” he said, likening that rate of expan-sion to that of a third-world country.

Currin notes that the motivating question of the day was, “Are we going to be subject to growth, or are we going to manage it?”

Former city manager Shel Schweikert re-members that the charter of the village, ad-opted in 1958, gave the village the ability to “control their destiny, but since the township derived their power from the Ohio Revised

By Heidi AugustinPhotos by Stephanie Fellenstein

For many, merger is a distant memory20 years later

This plaque was added to the Green adjacent to Park Lane to commemorate the merger of Hudson Township and the City of Hudson Village 20 years ago.

by Heidi Augustinphotos by Stephanie Fellenstein


Code, the trustees had little power to manage growth.”

Despite those reasons to support the uni-fication of the two entities, others were still not convinced of the wisdom of the initiative. Township residents, who opposed the merg-er, were represented by the committee, “No Merger Now,” and residents of the village who opposed the merger were represented by the committee, “Hudson Residents for an Informed Electorate.”

S. David Worhatch, a former Hudson Town-ship trustee and a member of the first post-merger City Council, argued then and still contends now that, “the specific terms and conditions proposed in 1993 were not good for the residents of the unincorporated 20.5 square miles of the township and that they should not have been adopted until after major infrastructure expenditures were made ...” He cites storm water management, road recon-struction and resurfacing among the needs.

Hudson Residents for an Informed Elector-ate shared concerns about assuming the cost and responsibility for the infrastructure and ad-

ministration of the township. About a year before the vote that united the

township and the village into one entity, a com-mittee of five village residents and five town-ship residents was formed to investigate all as-pects of the merger. Public input was sought, residents were polled, and concerns were heard and studied.

Currin says the main goal of the merger was to establish some control over residential growth in Hudson. Concurrent with this was a desire to establish a plan for economic devel-opment.

Gwen Mayer, archivist for the Hudson Li-brary and Historical Society, said that Hud-son “had a strong sense of history and pres-ervation that is unusual among Northeast Ohio communities,” and she notes that Hudson “had it earlier than others.”

On New Year’s Day 1994, the city and the township joined together under one govern-ment for the first time since 1837.

Plans for cooperation and growth

The guiding document for the merger is the

Town Hall was actually owned by Hudson Township despite being in the center of the City of Hudson Village.

Founder David Hudson had four pillars on which he hung his hopes for this new town located within the Connecticut Western Reserve. They were family, faith, education and entrepreneurship.

—Mayor William Currin

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comprehensive plan, first completed in 1995 and updated again in 2004. There are 10 key recommendations within the plan that address a wide range of aspects relating to Hudson’s future growth. The overriding theme of the plan is to direct the responsible, careful, sensi-tive growth of the city of Hudson. Provisions of the key recommendations focus on economic and residential growth and development, while keeping a close eye on quality of life and the environment, according to the plan.

When asked about her recollections of the time of the merger, Katie Coulton, owner of the Grey Colt and a life-long resident of Hudson who served for years on the board of zoning appeals and the Hudson Heritage Association, says, “I am in awe of the people who came to-gether and gave their time and effort to form the documents that became our Comprehen-sive Plan.”

In keeping with those main goals, sever-al guidelines were developed to guide the city planners toward a clearer path to the future. Because of concerns about the unchecked growth of the city, the council created the Growth Management Residential Develop-ment Allocation System, whose purpose was to regulate the rate that Hudson would be ex-panding.

Shortly after the merger, the new city gov-ernment placed limits upon the number of new homes that could be built in Hudson. The

number has fluctuated in past years to a low of 80, but now remains at 100 new dwell-ings per year. According to Currin, Hudson was one of the first cities in the state of Ohio to adopt these growth control measures and oth-er towns have followed suit.

Currently Hudson has a population of just over 22,300 people. In 2004 a target build-out was set at 28,000 residents with a goal of 1 percent to 1 1/2 percent annual residen-tial growth set at that time. For the most part, the city has remained within these numbers. Most recently, in 2012, 114 dwelling units were approved, the majority of which were contained within the Trails of Hudson, a 55 and over apartment development located in the southwest part of town on Hudson Drive.

In the 2013 State of the City address, City Manager Anthony Bales described the eco-nomic climate of Hudson to be good. Jody Roberts, communications manager for the City of Hudson, reports that as of 2012, 13,540 people work in the city.

Quality of Life

The acres of open space and lush parkland that can be found tucked among many neigh-borhoods contribute to the desirable quality of life in Hudson. Within the 16,000 acres that com-prise the 25 square miles of Hudson, 2,200 acres are designated park land. Currin claims that this is among the highest ratio of park to developed

land in the state. “There are so many bike paths and hiking

trails here and people actually use them,” says Becca Singleton, who moved to Hudson from Chesterfield, Va., in January 2013 with her hus-band Justin and two young children.

Singleton appreciates the proximity of down-town shopping and restaurants, but reserves highest praise for the schools and library. “I was amazed at the level of teacher preparation, even at the pre-school level, and my jaw still drops when I go into the library.”

When asked why she thought the merger turned out to be good for Hudson, Tierney Miller Kimmerle, a life-long resident believes that the merger was a “force for success.” “Everybody had the same vision for Hudson,” she says.

Worhatch disagrees and likens the merg-er to, “a hostile takeover.” Among other issues, he contends in a white paper he recently au-thored that the size of Hudson City govern-ment has outpaced the population growth of the town and that the concurrent costs are ob-jectionable.

Coulton takes a constructive and philosoph-ical approach. “Someone gave me a piece of advice a long time ago which I have taken to heart,” she says. “You can’t stop time. You have to be able to let go. Whether you were for or against the merger at the time, again and again, what I see, is that what makes our town special are the people who live here.”v

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Phil Herman is a busy man.Take a recent Friday, for instance. His work day begins at 7:02 a.m.

after his daughter Olivia, a seventh-grader at Kimpton Middle School in Stow, gets on the bus.

“We have a long driveway so I drive her down to the end of the driveway and then I come here [to Hudson] after,” he says. “Every single morning she reminds me to ‘think positive.’”

By 9:45 a.m., Herman and Doreen Osmun, assistant superinten-dent, are in the middle of one of their weekly meetings.

“We like to try to touch base at least once a week,” he says.The two hop from topic to topic — Twitter, the possibility of add-

ing a calculus 3 class, wood skills for special education students and developing a math/science combination for a new service learning class.

Half an hour later, Osmun is headed to the middle school for an eighth-grade language arts presentation, while Her-man plans to visit “A Day in Business” at the high school. A technological leader

Herman is an extremely visible superintendent. Part of this is due to his involvement in every aspect of the school district. The other part is thanks to his Twitter handle @PhilHerman. (He has even been known to demonstrate his dancing abilities on Twitter.)

“I started tweeting for a variety of reasons,” he says. “It was right around SB5. There were a lot of negative comments at that time. I have the opportunity to see so many great things happening every day that I wanted to let people know there was another side to see. I wanted to start sharing.”

Herman also pointed out that Twitter is a powerful professional de-velopment tool.

“It is amazing how many educational hashtags there are,” he says.

Balancing gameIn one week alone, Herman traveled to Dayton for the girls volley-

ball state semifinals. He attended the football team’s playoff game and was a guest speaker at the Hudson High School Leadership Conference in Hiram. He also worked in all of his regular duties be-fore heading to Columbus for the Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference where he and Steve DiMauro gave a presentation on “Creating compensation strategies.”

“My primary focus this year is visibility. That’s a high priority,” he says. “Tell us when, and if we can, we’ll be there.”

On the flip side, though, is balancing that high visibility with his pri-vate life. “I’m also focused on maintaining a balance and making an effort to carve out family time,” he says. “That was one of the lessons learned from Lakewood [Local Schools where he served as superin-

Article and photos by Stephanie Fellenstein

Superintendent leaps head first into new positionPhoto by Jen Claytor of JClaytor Photography — Superintendent Phil Herman with his family. From left, son Hayden, wife Lisa and daughter Olivia.

New kid oN the block


Above: Superintendent Phil Herman, right, talks with Dave and MJ Lehman of Nicky Nicole at the high school Business Club’s “A Day in Business” event Nov. 8. Bottom left, Herman talks to Betty Banks-Burke, a business education teacher at the high school and the adviser of the Business Club. Middle, David Johanson, left, and William Price, both juniors, meet with Herman. Right, Navneet Kala, a senior at Hudson High School, and president of the Business Cub, tells Herman about his post-high school plans.

tendent for three years].”

Becoming superintendentHerman’s original plan was to be a lawyer, like his dad. “Superin-

tendent” did not even make an appearance on his career list when he was in school.

“I grew up in Stow,” he says. In fact, when he came back to the area with his family about eight years ago, they moved to the proper-ty he had grown up on. “My kids are the fifth generation to live there,” he says.

Growing up, Herman attended Woodridge schools through the sixth grade and then he completed middle school at Holy Family Catholic School. He then went to Walsh Jesuit High School.

“I had an interesting mixture of public and parochial schooling,” he says.

While he intended to go to law school, Herman says his father en-couraged him to major in something other than pre-law. He chose education with a focus on teaching comprehensive communication — English, journalism and speech.

It was the summer he spent working at Camp O’Bannon in New-ark, Ohio, though, that started the erosion of the original plans. He still planned to go to law school, but it wouldn’t be long before those plans totally changed.

Back to Camp O’Bannon

Camp O’Bannon is a summer camp, with a focus on low self-es-teem, for elementary through eighth-grade children in Licking Coun-ty, Herman says.

“The kids are recommended for camp by the sheriff’s office, nurs-es and children’s services,” he says, adding there is also an outpost camp for high school students.

Herman worked for the camp for four years, starting as a camp counselor and finishing his final two years as the summer camp di-rector.

“That really influenced my decision to work with young kids and have a positive impact on them,” he says.

Herman still wasn’t quite ready to give up his law school dream and entered The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

“I left after the first semester,” he says.With a little time on his hands, Herman headed out to New Mex-

ico to work at a school outside of Santa Fe in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

“I was a resident adviser and teacher’s aid at a boarding school,” he says. “I worked 24/7 for 3 1/2 days a week and then had 3 1/2 days off. We camped all over New Mexico and Colorado.”

A self-proclaimed outdoor enthusiast, the job was right up Her-

Article and photos by Stephanie Fellenstein


man’s alley. “If it’s an activity outside, I love it. Ski-

ing, hiking, fishing, it doesn’t matter what it is,” he says. “Well, except for golf. I’m terri-ble at golf.”

After finishing out the school year, Herman headed back to Ohio to find a job.

Lakewood Local Schools, near Colum-bus was looking for an in-school suspen-sion teacher and Herman accepted the job. That year he also subbed, coached freshman girls basketball, middle school track and as-sisted with the football team. He also started coursework for a master’s degree in admin-istration. The next year, Herman was offered a position as an English/journalism teacher.

Around the same time, he met his fu-ture wife, Lisa, and they got married dur-ing his third year teaching at Lakewood lo-cal schools.

“I was suddenly inspired to stick around,” he says smiling.

He also finished his master’s degree.After his third year of teaching, Lakewood

Local Superintendent Lou Staffilino asked if Herman had ever thought about being an el-ementary school principal.

“I said ‘not really’,” Herman says. “and he said, ‘you’d better.’”

Herman was offered the position of ele-mentary principal for grades kindergarten through fourth.

Three years later, when Staffilino retired, Herman was offered the superintendent po-

sition.Just to give some perspective, he says,

the Hudson City School District includes 31 square miles and has 4,650 students, while the Lakewood Local School District covers 115 square miles and includes 2,200 stu-dents.

“I stayed for three years,” he says. “My kids [the family also includes son, Hayden, a fourth-grader] were young and we were still thinking about coming back [to the Stow area].”

When the director of human resources po-sition in Hudson opened up, Herman applied and got the job. He spent the next eight years in that position, plus added assistant super-intendent to his duties five years ago.

And then superintendent

“I knew I wanted to be a superintendent,” Herman says. “I just had to remind myself why I got into education — to have a pos-itive impact on kids. Now my focus is em-powering others to have positive impacts too.”

While Herman was named superintendent in May 2013, he officially took over the posi-tion on Aug. 1. His three-year contract runs through July 2016.

Herman says he was not intimidated by Hudson’s outstanding academic record.

“Good leaders surround themselves with good people,” he says, and points to Osmun. “It’s amazing what she juggles.”

But Osmun shakes off the praise. “It’s def-initely a team effort,” she says.

“It all can feel overwhelming,” Herman says. “But what gives me peace is looking at the people here. There are fantastic peo-ple who truly have an interest and passion in preparing pupils for the future. I never felt like I was doing it alone. My role is to support them in what they do so well.”

Herman pointed out that nine administra-tors (including himself) are new this year.

“Everyone is very capable,” he says. “And none of the secretaries are new. They help keep us pointed in the right direction.”

Support system

While Herman is off at Hudson events, his wife Lisa keeps things running smooth-ly at home.

Herman was busy before as assistant superintendent, but there are a few more commitments these days, especially in the evening, Lisa says. “We have to do a lot of planning.”

The family does attend some of the Hud-son events with Herman. Hayden, especially, went to most of the Hudson football games this season and stood with his dad on the sidelines.

“That was something really nice for them to do together,” Lisa says.

“Family comes first for him. But I know that he’s torn when he has to choose be-tween a family event and a school event. I

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know he wants to be in two places at the same time.”There is also a support system at school.Linda Miller has worked with a lot of superintendents in the 17

years she has been with the district’s central office. Miller started with Assistant Superintendent Mary Ann Wolow-

iec and then moved with her when Wolowiec became superinten-dent. She also has worked with interim superintendent Jack Thomas, Steve Farnsworth and now Herman.

While Herman was busy with meetings on that Friday, Miller was overseeing the computer tech working on his computer. Herman wanted to show video clips in his presentation for the Leadership group, but his computer was not cooperating.

By late morning the technology was upgraded and Miller told Her-man her computer also was upgraded so she could work on the proj-ect if he needed help.

“I love working with Phil,” she says. “He’s just a wonderful, ap-proachable person and that really helps him in his position. He is very visible.”

Miller points out that Herman is not only approachable for school staff members, but also for the community and the students.

“He goes to the high school and has lunch with the students,” she says. “He will randomly sit with kids and ask their opinions on things.”

By early afternoon, Herman is heading to the high school for a Day in Business, a business fair sponsored by the Business Club under the direction of Betty Banks-Burke.

“She has been here 40 years and is incredible,” Herman says. “She has an amazing passion for business.”

The gym is filled with vendors — 50 local businesses — for the fifth year of the fair.

He stops to chat with business club members, both juniors, David Johanson and William Price.

“We have more vendors than last year,” Johanson points out, and Price snaps a quick picture of Herman.

Business Club President Navneet Kala, a senior, stops to shake hands with Herman. Herman asks him a few questions about his po-sition with the club and then Kala turns the questioning to the super-intendent. “How about you?” he asks. “How do you like the job so far?” Herman says he does like the position and thanks Kala for his hard work with the business club.

He visits a few more booths, touches base with Principal Brian Wilch and then heads back to his office to work on his speech for the Columbus conference.

Despite the sometimes crazy schedule, Herman couldn’t be happi-er with his new position.

“I get to see our students growing,” he says. “It’s a great gift.”v

Superintendent Phil Herman and Assistant Superintendent Doreen Osmun meet weekly to discuss district business.


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Looking to get away with the family? Need some travel ad-vice on how to keep the kids happy and entertained? Most may check out a destination on the “TripAdvisor” website. Those who live in Hudson, though, can simply ask the McMullin family who has spent the last three years traveling to three continents and 16 countries all with three kids under the age of nine in tow.

“We know better than anyone that travel is work with kids,” says Joe McMullin. “But if you love that kind of work, it can be great.”

Joe, Ann Marie and their three children Sean, 9, Kate, 7, and JP, 5, had the good fortune to live for three years, from June 2010 until July 2013, in the southernmost point of Europe — Andalusia, Spain. They went to work, school and soccer and made friends — and oh yes, traveled.

“We got out of Dodge as often as we could,” laughs Joe.With Rick Steves’ guides in hand, they visited Madrid, Sic-

ily, Granada, Lisbon, Morocco, Gibraltar, Paris, Turkey, the Ca-nary Islands, London, Scotland, Ireland, Rome, Malta, Jordan, Israel, Bosnia and Croatia. They skied in the Pyrenees in North-ern Spain and Chamonix in the French Alps; watched a soccer game at Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona; cheered at the Na-vy-Notre Dame Game in Dublin; saw the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona; enjoyed the Christmas market in Cologne; hiked Masada in Israel and white water rafted at the Tara River Gorge in Montenegro.

“Never, ever will we have family time like that again. We’re fortunate to have done it,” says Ann Marie. Adds Joe, “We feel like we stole three years.”

The McMullin family pauses for a photo on their way to a Feria, a fair, in Rota, Spain.Back row, Ann Marie and Joe. Front, Kate, JP and Sean.

by Peggy SextonPhotos special to Hudson Monthly


How it happenedAnn Marie and Joe, Hudson residents since 2003, had already seen some of

the world before they left for Spain, by way of the Navy. Joe, a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis was a helicopter pilot before leaving the military for business school. The Navy paid Ann Marie’s medical schooling in exchange for three years of service, two years of which she spent in Japan. The couple met at the North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, Calif.

Sometime in 2009, they found they were restless and ready for a change. Joe had a job he didn’t love. Ann Marie had a job she loved, an emergency room physician at the Cleveland Clinic, but one, they thought, could be done from any-where in the world.

Joe started checking want ads for civilian jobs in the military for both he and Ann Marie. As luck would have it, Naval Station Rota Spain was in need of an emergency room physician. Ann Marie committed to three years of service. Joe figured he’d find a job when they got there.

The military handled the move. The car and the contents of the house were packed and shipped. The family drove to Norfolk, Va., where they boarded a mil-itary charter flight. Once on Spanish soil, only Ann Marie would return to the U.S. — to take her board certification — for three years.

First things firstThey landed in Rota in June 2010 in a rare summer rainstorm. With its strate-

gic location near the Strait of Gibraltar, Rota provides support for U.S. and NATO ships and the safe movement of Navy and Air Force flights and passengers to the region. The base is actually owned by the Spanish and commanded by a Spanish admiral. An American presence there is by special agreement. There are 1,300 U.S. active duty personnel from all the services on base and about 400 U.S. ci-vilians work there.

They found a pretty home in El Puerto de Santa Maria, fifteen minutes from the base and a ten-minute walk to the beach. The kids were enrolled at a pri-vate, Spanish Catholic school where they were immersed in the Spanish lan-guage right away.

Ann Marie was busy at the tiny ER on base, far from the stress of the Cleve-land Clinic. Joe ended up not finding a job outside the home. Instead, he ran the household, ferried the kids to and from school and plotted their next travel move.

Have kids, will travel

Rare is the person who lands in Rota with no travel plans. Discounted Europe-an carriers, like Ryanair, offer deals too good to pass up. The McMullins took ad-vantage of the location like everyone else on base. Having traveled with the kids every year since they were born, they were ready to tackle a bucket list of sites. Work shifts were arranged and swapped with the other physicians so that time off was maximized.

“We knew we wanted to get to Turkey. And London and Paris were a given,” says Joe. “Beyond that, we looked at where we could get to the most economi-cally.” They especially wanted to visit places that would be difficult or expensive to get to from the States.

Their travels started in Spain and over three years they saw as much as they could of the beautiful and diverse country that was their home away from home. Driving trips took them to Seville, Granada, Cadiz, Ronda, Cordoba, Toledo, San-tiago de Compostela, San Sebastian and to world-renowned art museums like the Museum of Picasso in Barcelona and the Guggenheim in Bilbao. For fourth-grader Sean, Madrid was one of his favorite destinations because of The Prado, the largest art gallery in the world. He loved to look at the masterpieces of Span-ish artist Diego Velazquez.

Along with the natives, they enjoyed the spring-time ferias, or fairs, found in many towns in Spain. Ann Marie bought traditional flamenco dresses for her

Right: Joe McMullin, right, and his kids Sean, left, and

Kate, middle, ski in the French Alps. Below: Ann Marie McMullin at Naval

Station Rota in Spain where she worked

as an emergency room physician for three years.

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The McMullin children on the flight deck of the USS Iwo Jima.

and Kate for their first feria in Seville. The fancy dresses have many layers of ruffles that swish when you walk or dance in them. Kate especially enjoyed dressing up in her yellow flamenco dress, yellow-heeled shoes and ear-rings, says Ann Marie.

Another Spanish highlight was Pamplona, where the famed, nine-day Running of the Bulls festival happens every July. They were advised that the best and safest way to see the action would be to watch the bulls come into the stadium after running through the streets. After the large bulls came in, the ring was cleared and baby bulls were brought in along with amateur matadors, most likely drunk. “We noticed there weren’t a lot of other kids in the stadium. Fortunately, we didn’t see any blood or death, but it was insane watching hu-mans being flipped around,” Joe says.

Other cultures They took the 45-minute ferry ride to Morocco for the first of two visits they would make to the Afri-

can continent. Getting off the ferry was like stepping back in time 400 years. They toured the market in Tangier, watching artisans at work. People would touch their kids’ heads as they walked among the stalls filled with spices, slip-pers, slabs of beef and skinned rabbits and goats.


Their first flying trip was to Rome in December 2010. “We stormed around that entire city for five days,” Ann Marie says. “There was plenty of whining but we were motivated. We had things we wanted to see and do.” They made it as fun for the kids as they could. Everything became a grand “I spy” game as they made their way through cathedrals and muse-ums. Sometimes contraband M&Ms were necessary to keep someone happy.

One of their favorite trips was the two weeks spent in Turkey in August and September 2011. Equal to Ireland in being the most welcoming country they had traveled to, Joe’s certain that “half of Istanbul” touched the kids’ blond and red heads. “We clear-ly stood out, but we were never afraid. The people were so kind and welcoming; we were instantly put at ease.” After days in Istanbul, they rented a car and cruised the western coast, visiting Gallipoli, Eceabot, Troy, Pergamum, Foca, Ephesus, and Bodrum.

Perhaps most memorable was the help of a young man named Fatih. Joe wasn’t feeling well and they were anxious to find a place to stay. Fatih flagged them down as they drove into his small vil-lage. He parked their car, found a bed and breakfast for them and would take no money for his help. They did go to Fatih’s shop the next day and Joe bought plenty of pirated soccer jerseys to show his appre-ciation.

A trip to London in June of 2012 was just what the family needed after two years away from Amer-

ica. It wasn’t cheap, but they were excited to eat at “fast, casual restaurants” in London that don’t ex-ist in Spain.

“We ate deli food and burgers and Thai and Ital-ian,” Ann Marie says.

But it was in Sicily where they ate the best meal of their time overseas, maybe of their entire lives. It was so good, Joe was prompted to write a review on “Tri-pAdvisor.” They didn’t order anything at Osteria da Moriano. In fact, they didn’t even see a menu. But the food kept coming — ricotta cheese with pistachios; orange salad with olive oil and crushed red pepper; eggplant, artichokes and swordfish, and red wine, of course.

The Last HurrahWith their time in Europe winding down, the fami-

ly tackled their longest trip — 30 days in Jordan, Is-rael, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro in June 2013.

“Travel skill is developed on each trip and I figure it gets honed at about the 8-day point. You finally hit the groove. Why stop?” Joe says. “When would we ever have a 30-day vacation again?”

In Jordan, they visited Petra — a vast, unique city carved into sheer rock face thousands of years old — the top tourist attraction in the country and on ev-ery “places to see before you die” list. They spent 10 exhausting hours there under a blazing sun. “I think we had the dirt of Petra in our shoes until we got back to Spain,” Ann Marie says.

Less than a week later, they were climbing again, this time at Masada, the ancient Jewish fortress in Is-rael. Ann Marie wasn’t feeling well and decided to sit at the base and wait for her family rather than make the steep climb on a 90-degree day.

“People coming down asked me, ‘Were those your kids? They made it to the top,’” says Ann Ma-rie. “They’re good little troopers. After Petra, we knew they could do anything.”

Back in the U.S.A.The family has returned to Hudson. They’re back

to jobs, school and church, soccer games and swim-ming. Life has returned to its familiar rhythms.

Saying goodbye wasn’t easy, but “we knew all along we were there for a finite period,” Ann Ma-rie says. “The rest of our lives were on this end.” The children are thrilled to be a short drive — not an ocean — away from grandparents and cousins.

And they’re all happy to be back in the U.S. “The years away really reinforced my apprecia-

tion for everything we have as Americans. With 26 percent unemployment in Spain, our Spanish friends wish their kids had the opportunities for education and career our children have here,” Joe says.

Where to next? Only Sean has an idea. He’d like to visit family friends in Florida. “They have a hot tub and a pool and it’s right next to the beach,” he ex-plains.

Sounds like a plan.v


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The Hudson Library & Histori-cal Society music series con-tinues at 1 p.m. with a con-cert by the Hudson Middle School Orchestra. Led by music director Roberto Iri-arte, the orchestra will play some classical string orches-tra selections by modern composers William Hoefeldt and Howard Shore as well as a variety of seasonal selec-tions representing Christmas and Chanukah. No registra-tion is required for this free program. For more informa-tion, call 330-653-6658 ext. 1010 or visit www.hudsonli-brary.org.

Hershey’s of Hudson, 50 W. Streetsboro Road, will host the United States Marines from 2 to 4 p.m. as part of its Toys for Tots campaign. Bring in a new, unwrapped toy to Hershey’s, meet the Marines and get a free Hershey’s Ice Cream cone. Also meet Cub Scout Pack 3327 — ce-lebrity scoopers — who are raising money for Scouting 4 Bikes. Scouting 4 Bikes takes used bikes, repairs them and gives them to kids in need during the holidays.

The Hudson High School choir will perform its winter concert at 7 p.m. at the high school on Dec. 12.

The orchestra’s winter con-cert will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17 at Hudson High School.

The band’s winter concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 19 at Hudson High School.

The Summit County Historical Society of Akron is offering holiday tours of the Perkins Stone Mansion. The tours run Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. through Dec. 21. No reservations are need-ed and tickets are available at the door. Admission is $6 per person and SCHS mem-bers are free. For more infor-mation, call 330-535-1120 or visit www.summithistory.org.

St. Mary Catholic Church, 340 North Main Street, will host a Fair Trade Christmas Bazaar Dec. 14 and 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The bazaar includes items from 14 ven-dors representing the Ameri-cas, Africa, Asia and the Holy Land. The event is free and includes children’s crafts, fair trade coffee and chocolate tasting, and a raffle basket.

The sixth annual “Search for the Christ Child” will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Hudson United Methodist Church, 2600 Hudson-Aurora Road. This 30-minute, interactive journey allows guests to visit the Inn in Bethlehem, listen to angels sing, meet the three wise men and many others on their way to find the Christ Child lying in a manger with Mary and Joseph. This event is free for the community. For more information, call the church office at 330-650-2650.

December

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eDITOr’S PIcKDecember 8, 15, 22

The 4th annual Doll House exhibition, featuring a train room, will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. each day at the Case-Barlow Farm. The his-toric 1830s farmhouse will take on an “Old-Fashioned” look with candles and win-ter decorations throughout the house. Also, more than 35 doll houses and room boxes will be on display in the vari-ous rooms. The trains will be featured upstairs, and cook-ies and punch will be served in the dining room. Admission cost is $15 for adults and $5 for children. Group rates are available. Call 216-956-0848 for more information.

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