Share the Fair program gives troops family time

Video cameras are loaned to military families so they can film their visits to the fair.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Ask any Marine or soldier in the Middle East, or anywhere bullets are flying: Home and all it represents is why they are there.

A touch of home is what Cleveland State University professor John Schupp is offering to bring to U.S. military personnel through his Share the Fair program Wednesday through Sept. 3 at the Canfield Fair.

Under the program, sponsored by Cleveland State, Schupp lends video cameras during fair week to military families with loved ones overseas so they can create their own personal documentary of their visit, or any other family activity they want to film.

Schupp, a chemistry professor who came up with the idea, said DVDs are made and given to the families to keep and/or send to their person in the military — all free of charge.

Also, Schupp said the videos will be made available to military personnel electronically via a secure Web portal.

Schupp said he realizes that many people who don’t have video cameras and the equipment needed to make their own DVDs, or they can’t afford or are intimidated by the technology. Those are the people he wants to reach.

Schupp urged people who are interested in the free service to reserve a camera before the fair by contacting him at (440) 488-6416 or via e-mail at j.schupp@csuohio.edu. Also, he will be stationed at the Mahoning Veterans Memorial on the fairgrounds Saturday and Sept. 2.

Two purposes

Schupp said the program serves two purposes. It gives families a way to share a piece of home with their loved ones in the military, and it helps CSU promote the university’s new Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran program.

SERV, which facilitates classes with military veterans for their first semester or so, is designed to help returning veterans with the transition from the military life to college life, Schupp said.

He said the idea for the SERV program grew from a comment made last year by one of his students, who had served in Bosnia and was having difficulty making the transition back to civilian life. The student said she could not relate to the other freshmen.

He convinced CSU’s administration of the potential for the veterans and the university, and the program became a reality.

Though his primary interest is in CSU, he said he plans to encourage Youngstown State, Kent State and Akron universities and other colleges to create similar programs for returning veterans in their areas.

“If people want information about another school in their area, they can call me and I’ll alert that university,” he said.

He envisions veterans centers on many college campuses, staffed by veterans service organizations, where veterans can go for help and support.

“If we bring the vets to the universities, I want to bring the veterans service organizations to the universities too. I want the centers to be someplace that has a lot of traffic, not hidden away in a corner,” he said.

Inspiration

He uses county fairs as a venue for the video camera program because that’s where people compete and meet, he said. The idea came to him while he was mowing his lawn.

“I thought, ‘I’ll bet there is a way to bring that fun back to the soldier,’” and he settled on loaning families video cameras.

Schupp said he talks for a minute or so about CSU at the beginning and end of the DVD, but the film taken by the family is sent to their military person otherwise unedited.

Two people who used Schupp’s cameras at their county fairs this year offered high marks.

“Let me first start by saying the experience for us was wonderful,” said Cindi Rogers of Ashville, whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Samuel Berger, is serving his second tour in Iraq. Berger’s father is Joe Berger of Commercial Point.

“What you must know is that last year, Sam was in Iraq during the Pickaway County Fair [in Circleville]. He called my cell phone and asked, ‘What are you guys doing?’ I told him we were at the fair.

“He said, ‘No, I mean where are you standing? Are you by the shaved ice guy and is the fried pickle guy there this year?’ He described everything as I looked around. For a brief moment in his mind he was there, seeing and smelling the fair he had remembered for 18 years.”

‘Man with a heart of gold’

Rogers admitted her first thought was what crazy person would offer video equipment for free and not worry about someone ripping him off, or what’s the catch?

“Well, the ‘crazy’ person was John Schupp, a man with a heart of gold. When I met this fast talker from Cleveland at a local restaurant in Circleville, I knew there are still good, trusting people in this world,” Rogers said.

Daphne Hedgecock of Plain City, “proud wife of Army Reserve Master Sgt. John Hedgecock,” said the Share the Fair program “allowed us to include him in an activity that we as a family do every year, and that he was really disappointed about not getting to be there.”

Hedgecock, a military police specialist with the 416th Engineering Battalion, left home Jan. 14 and left for Iraq on April 1. He is scheduled to return home in the summer of 2008.

“Honestly, it was also great because it allowed him to see how much the kids have grown and changed since he left,” his wife said.

“Our family is a farm family, and 4-H is a big part of that with showing our livestock and assorted projects at the Madison County Fair [in London],” Daphne said. “Our children are 20, 11, and 9 years old, so this is an important time for them; and Share the Fair allowed us to include John in everything.”

alcorn@vindy.com