Sharefest promotes vital communities by exchanging talents

May 25, 2014 at 12:10a.m.

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.

The event, one of an estimated 50 such fests around the world, was to promote greater cooperation and collaboration among businesses in the Youngstown/Warren economy, highlight examples of the regional economy at work and bring together local

people to share their skills and knowledge toward building healthier and more vital communities, noted Janice Bolchalk, Mahoning Watershed’s president.

Performing services for individuals or groups earns time-bank members time credits, nonmonetary means by which to buy another person’s time, take part in group activities or receive needed services. For example, someone who babysits a child for two hours can receive two hours’ worth of yard work, Bolchalk explained.

“We want to bring back a sense of community,” she said. “We don’t know people in our neighborhoods anymore.”

Such services include transportation, small-business assistance, car and minor home repairs, music lessons, pet care and computer assistance.

Among those at Saturday’s fest were Naypaver and other Inventors Association members, who had on display the Rife machine.

The device relies on a software program that lists an estimated 871 bacterial- and viral-related illnesses, along with certain frequencies that can “blow up” the microorganisms that lead to fibromyalgia, certain forms of cancer and numerous other ailments, noted Rich Laughlin, an association member who helped design the more-modern version.

Nevertheless, the machine does not cure illnesses, stressed Bob Davenport, the association’s vice president.

Also on hand was a plastic pipe called an Add-a-Trap that Davenport invented and had patented in 2006.

The device attaches to sink pipes and contains a strainer to catch earrings, wedding rings and other foreign objects, as well as hair to prevent clogs. The trap also is environmentally friendly because it eliminates the need for corrosive drain cleaners, thereby reducing water contaminants, Davenport explained.

“We [also] sell it to pet groomers. It saves on plumbing costs,” he said.

Green also is the operative color of iDK Technologies, a Niles-based research-and-development business that Bob Jadloski spearheaded.

About eight months ago, Jadloski, a photographer by trade, opened the Niles Innovation Center in the former Optiview Center on U.S. Route 422. Its clients include the inventors club and the time-bank group.

Jadloski also is marketing free-pressure generators, which can tap into unused pressure and flow from oil, air, water or natural gas to produce electricity without consuming any fuels. The generators operate much like hydropower over a dam and do not create waste. They also use friction-free brushless motors that generate more power with fewer revolutions per minute, Jadloski noted.

The devices are about $50,000 each, which is one-fifth the cost of windmills, noted Jadloski, who estimated that each generator can produce enough power for 18 homes.

“When you see the technology, it’s so simple,” Jadloski said, adding that one such generator is being tested near the innovation center.

Also at Saturday’s gathering was information on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare; religious compact discs; literature on pain control, healthful living and stress management; free health and stress evaluations; and demonstrations on knitting and crocheting.

Shirley Bartlett of Austintown was giving friend Dawn Dominic of Hubbard a few pointers on knitting.

The time-bank philosophy rewards those who give back to and help strengthen families, communities and neighborhoods, said Tony Budak, TimeBank Mahoning Watershed’s chief executive officer.

“We build bridges of trust and mutuality and look at the world not as a set of collective problems, but as assets to contribute and build on,” he explained. “We take the positive and develop it.”

Several children with the Youngstown-based Education Imagination Learning Center volunteered, in part, by helping to set up the event.