MAHONING COUNTY Retiree looks back over lifetime of activity with extension office

The retiree plans to finish a quilt and read 'Harry Potter' books.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
CANFIELD -- Now that she's retired, Wanema Flasher just might celebrate by subscribing to cable TV.
Flasher recently retired after 35 years as an Ohio State University extension agent here. She said she will spend the first year relaxing.
She said she never worried about not "having cable" because she didn't have much time for television viewing. But she is a fan of the "Friends" sitcom and is lamenting its departure from the airwaves.
Now she's looking forward to watching comedy shows and movies on cable, and the many cable home improvement and cooking programs.
Meals after work were often soup and sandwiches. Now she plans to cook more.
At her sister's house, there's furniture to be refinished and reupholstered, and an unfinished quilt waiting for her needle and thread.
She also is looking forward to reading. On the top of her list are the "Harry Potter" books.
She's got roots
Flasher lives in Austintown and never married. Neither did her sister, Debbie, who lives in their parent's house in Ravenna. Flasher said that although she plans to spend a lot of time with her sister, she doesn't plan to move.
"I've been in the Mahoning Valley for more than 30 years," she said. "I'm rooted here now. This is my home."
Wanema and Debbie grew up in Ravenna. Flasher's extension career took root in Portage County 4-H programs.
"I started at 9 years old and I stayed in all 10 years," she said. "I was a camp counselor and involved in junior leadership. I did projects in home and money management, clothing and foods and photography.
"One summer during college, I worked in the Mahoning County extension office, and that experience made me realize that extension was what I really wanted to do," she said.
After college, Flasher worked 16 months as a 4-H agent in Geauga County, then became the Mahoning County home economics agent.
The change in her job title from home economics to family and consumer sciences extension agent in 1980 wasn't the only change she saw in extension over the years.
"When I started in 1970, there were a lot of women working outside the home, but there were still a lot of stay-at-home moms," she said. "Then a lot more women went to work, and there were even some stay-at-home dads."
She said a lot of her early work was teaching classes on food preparation and preservation, or home canning, and sewing.
As more women went to work, the focus shifted to balancing life and work. Sewing and canning became hobbies, not necessities.
"Women now need to know how to keep a good balance of work and family life," she said.
"Women who work have a second shift. When they get home from work, there's cooking and laundry and house cleaning to do."
TV show
During her Mahoning Valley career, Flasher found herself in two places she never thought she'd be -- in a prison kitchen and in front of a television camera.
She worked informally within several community corrections programs, helping inmates with food preparation.
"It was strange hearing the doors lock behind me, knowing I was locked in," she said.
"We were trying to help people who'd had a brush with the law. They didn't want to be there, but a tough audience was a challenge, and the tougher the challenge, the more fun I had."
Her stint in front of a television camera was a food demonstration program with WYTV Channel 33's Elaine Mettee. "Elaine's Kitchen" ran for eight years during Channel 33's noon news broadcasts.
"It was interesting, and the first few times, I was scared to death," she said. "I tell myself it wasn't a big thing, but it lasted for eight years. That's a lot longer than some big network shows."
Wanema has a bachelor's degree in home economics education from Kent State University and a master's degree in journalism from Ohio State.
In her retirement, she still wants to help people. She wants to spend time as a volunteer, but she is firm about taking a year to relax.
"I've talked to quite a few retirees over the past few months, and they all said the same thing," Flasher said.
"They are so busy in their retirement, they can't figure out how they ever had time to work. That's good. I do want to keep busy -- just not yet."