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Boardman dog park to be dedicated
BOARDMAN
A local woman who was a lifelong animal-lover will be recognized today when a dog park is named in her honor.
The trustees and the trust advisers of The Marjorie Hartman Family Foundation gave a $60,000 grant to fund the construction of Paws Town.
Paws Town is Mahoning County’s first enclosed dog park and will be located near the Southern Boulevard entrance of Boardman Park.
The 3.25-acre dog park will be dedicated as Marge Hartman’s Paws Town at noon today in Boardman Park.
Construction is starting now and is slated for completion in the spring, said Jason Loree, who co-founded Friends of Paws Town, a nonprofit organization that has been raising funding for the dog park.
“We hope we set the standard for dog parks and as folks want to build one in their community, they look at us,” Loree said.
Hartman established a Charitable Foundation with Huntington National Bank as trustee shortly before her death in 2008. The trust’s advisers, Linda Cappelli-Sladick, Barry K. Haughin and Thomas J. Lodge, have restricted gifts from the fund to animal- welfare projects in the Mahoning Valley.
“We wanted to do things Marge would have wanted for animal welfare. We noticed we didn’t have any dog parks like I’ve seen in other communities,” Lodge said.
The advisers look for the organizations that show stability, financial accountability and sustainability.
Other grant recipients include the Youngstown YMCA for pasture fencing at Camp Fitch and Animal Charity to purchase an X-ray machine.
“Marge was a dog groomer, and this is an ideal thing,” Lodge said. “With the exception of a few personal items, she gave her entire estate to this foundation to make grants.”
Hartman was born July 4, 1922, one of three daughters of James and Margaret Hill. She married Ensign Willis Hartman in July 1948. After being widowed in 1963, Marge worked as an EKG technician for Trumbull Memorial Hospital and later became a self-employed dog groomer.
“If Marge were here today, she would enjoy the dog park, and she’d be scolding everyone and telling them to take care of their dogs,” Lodge said.