TimeBank's Sharefest featured unusual inventions

YOUNGSTOWN

When it comes to trying to alleviate their pain and itching associated with shingles, Tom Ochsenhirt and Ann Uhlar are on the same wavelength.

“I had scabs on the top of my head to underneath my chin,” said Ochsenhirt, 71, of Liberty Township, referring to the condition he’s had for about eight years since retiring after 36 years with Gasser Chair Co. Inc.

Uhlar’s symptoms began about a year ago. Consequently, the 76-year-old Austintown woman has experienced continual discomfort in her facial area, she said.

Nevertheless, Ochsenhirt and Uhlar left Saturday’s first ShareFest gathering with renewed hope that all signs of their medical condition will heal, thanks to being next to a Rife machine, a device invented in 1930 that emits radio waves at the same frequencies as those discharged by bacteria and viruses that cause or contribute to shingles, Lyme disease and hundreds of other maladies.

Explaining to them the intricacies of the machine and its applications was Frank Naypaver, president of the Warren & Youngstown Inventors Association, one of whose members helped upgrade the device.

The Rife machine was one of many attractions at the free four-hour ShareFest at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave. Hosting the gathering was TimeBank Mahoning Watershed, a nonprofit community-benefit organization.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.