A Boardman family tries to keep a postive outlook, even though Dave and Cheryl Bishop have both

By Denise Dick

A Boardman family tries to keep a postive outlook, even though Dave and Cheryl Bishop have both recently lost their jobs.

Dave and Cheryl Bishop spend their days working out at the YMCA, fixing things around the house and looking for jobs.

Cheryl’s last day of work at Circuit City in Pittsburgh was March 10. She spent 21 years with the company that went out of business.

The family’s health insurance runs out at month’s end.

“Exercise helps with the stress,” Cheryl said.

Cheryl, 43, and Dave, 50, met while working at a Circuit City in Pasadena, Calif. Dave has spent most of his career in middle management and sales positions but also served 13 years as a firefighter and medic both for his hometown and for the forestry department in California.

He’s looking for a middle-management post, and she’s aiming for another retail-management job. Both hope for positions that pay reasonably well.

“We’re looking in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh areas and anywhere in between,” Cheryl said.

They search the Internet, e-mailing each other possibilities, and also look to networking for employment possibilities.

With a jovial personality and experience as a salesman and service adviser for an area car dealership, a firefighter/medic, an operations and store manager for a hardware store and a manager of 33 people working in the delivery area at Circuit City, Dave has a varied resum .

“I’ve always been very adaptable at whatever people wanted me to do,” he said.

The couple moved to the area in 1992 to be closer to family. Cheryl grew up in Boardman, and Dave is from Westerville, a Columbus suburb. The couple has two children, Rachael, 14, and Kyle, 12.

Cheryl’s job as a national trainer with Circuit City ended in November, but she stayed on, conducting integrity audits at closing stores.

“I think when the company closed, we were both pretty surprised,” Dave said.

Employees knew liquidation was a possibility, but the company was looking for a buyer, and some prospects appeared promising, Cheryl said.

She has a lead on a new managerial job with an area retailer and awaits word on a second interview.

In the meantime, the family has cut back on nonessentials.

“We cut back on things like cable and XM [radio],” Dave said.

They don’t go out much, instead opting for card games at friends’ houses. They’ve also been able to negotiate lower rates for car and homeowner’s insurance and for cellular phone service. A wood burner in the family living room allows for lower gas bills.

Rachael’s dance competitions, which ran five days per week, were also a casualty of family budget cuts.

While working as a firefighter, Dave took some cooking classes and learned to economize. He plans family meals around what’s on sale.

“We have it down to under $10 for dinner” for the family of four, Dave said.

When his last sales position ended, Cheryl was traveling a lot for her job, and he decided to stay home with the kids and work on a house he bought to fix up.

He thought about going to school at night to earn a nursing degree, but that plan stalled when Cheryl lost her job.

If they have to leave the area, they want to wait until school finishes for the year to ease the transition for the kids. Rachael is active in drama, orchestra and cheerleading at Boardman High School, and Kyle runs track and wrestles at Center Middle School.

Some of the timing of the job loss work in the Bishops’ favor.

“It’s tax time, so we’ll be getting our tax return,” Cheryl said. “I’ll be getting a bonus check from work — I have no idea what it will be — in the middle of next month.”

If they need to, they can both dip in to their 401(k) accounts.

The couple tries to remain optimistic, Cheryl said.

denise_dick@vindy.com