Investing in your community is a great way to give back to those who have helped support your business. Volunteer groups and non-profit organizations do so much to help the communities that all of us are a part of, but they can’t do it alone. We realize there are many opportunities to come together and better our community and encourage you to join us in lending a hand, or to spend time helping other charities and non-profits of your choice.

As successful members of the community, we have a responsibility to help those that are less fortunate and contribute to the common good. Every little bit truly helps when it comes to good works.

Below is a listing of just a few of our great charitable organizations we contribute to:

• We are proud underwriters of WYSO 93.1FM, as well as WDPR 88.1FM, both public radio stations. We also go on air a couple of times a year to help with their fund drives. Not only does it support public radio in the Dayton region, but it gives us an opportunity to connect with a lot of their listeners as well as supporters, and in our minds is the right thing to do.

• We are Gold Bell sponsors of Dayton History and many of their events, including Ringing in the Holidays. If you have not checked out Dayton History at Carillon Park lately, you should. Dayton History is organization, and our community is extremely fortunate to have a group like them to tell the story of Dayton’s remarkable history. We are proud supporters of Dayton History, and on a personal level, I always look forward to attending the Heritage festival, the Philharmonic concert and Ringing in the Holidays, all at Carillon Park among all the other events they hold.

• Dayton Gastroenterology celebrates Colon Cancer Awareness with a 5K race ‘No Buts About it‘ that we have been sponsors of for quite a few years (and again this year). Net proceeds of the “No Buts About It” 5K Run/Walk are used to fund screening colonoscopies for uninsured persons in economic hardship who meet the medical criteria for a screening colonoscopy.

• We gave over $1,000 to United Way to help them get their annual report and additional collateral printed at an affordable price. And if you are looking for volunteer opportunities, go to their website for a great list that fits any interests.

• We helped Miami Valley Hospital Foundation with their invitation set to celebrate the new Miami Valley Hospital Tower.

• Joe Ryan of Reliable Electric has set up a walk/race called LENLO (Long Enough Now Let’s OVARcome) to help overcome ovarian cancer in memory of a friend Kathy Alianello. Its been a great success and we have been proud sponsors for two years.

Perhaps in the holiday season, more than at any other time, our hearts go out to others. But there are always those who are less fortunate than we are and will appreciate our help all year round. Give what you can regularly to the charities that make a difference to your local and national community. You may be surprised at the benefits you reap!

I don’t think we are that much different from a lot of other small businesses and groups out there. We do what we can to help out, and we love seeing others do the same. And that’s what makes Dayton a great place. I guess being the holiday season, it’s a good time to say thanks to everybody that is willing to make a difference, and I’m thankful that we are in a position to be able to give back.

So, I’m going to deviate from talking about printing and graphics for a moment, because I’ve just taken a miracle journey into modern medicine. I say this now, being able to walk around without the chronic pain I’ve dealt with for years, only 3 weeks into a journey of invasive back surgery at Miami Valley on November 23. That is shaping up to be a true miracle in my mind.

I’ll start by saying a lot of people around me never knew I had back problems, I was just able to either keep them to myself or just mask them. I’ve spent years trying out alternative interventions like physical therapy and spinal injections. But once I decided on the surgery option, the worst part of this was seeing the pins & screws they put in my back … I think they could hold a muffler on an old Chevy Caprice. But when I was on vacation this past summer, I was unable to walk more than a block or stand more than 10 minutes, so I knew I had to do something.

Now they have special names for this type of surgery, and the names sound as intimidating as the procedure really is. Essentially what happens is they fuse your back together with these pins and screws…and then after the operation, there’s a point where the pain level is very high, so they put a little green button in your hand that lights up every 15 minutes…you push it and the morphine takes you away. That and my iPod turned up loud while laying on my back is what really pulled me through, although I did get in trouble for trying to push the button to many times.

This is really a success story on two major levels, First, a lot of amazing people all around me, some I never knew prior to this, were just unbelievably kind and caring.And the doctors, starting with Dr. Hodges at Dayton Spine and Rehab were absolute professionals. The surgeon, Dr. Amongero, in my mind is incredibly gifted and preformed a miracle on me. The staff at Miami Valley Hospital was just unbelievable. The nurses who tolerated me (Misty is the one I remember) brought me back to life for the 3 days after surgery and were truly caring people (and I mean that…there was not an impatient bone in any of their bodies). My opinion and respect for Miami Valley Hospital and all the Doctors and Nurses associated with them is at the highest level. I have nothing bad to say about our health care system.

The second part of the success story is all the people I work with, employees of Oregon, customers and everybody else who works with us. I owe everybody a “Big Thanks”. I know the staff have been busy working overtime at the shop,  and I’ve gotten cards, gift baskets and a lot of visitors; it’s funny how the world just seems to keep rolling when you step out with something like this. I normally don’t write stuff like this about myself, but this was a huge event in my life, and I just can’t say enough about all of the support I have gotten.

I can’t wait to get back (hopefully later this week), as we have huge plans for Oregon over the next couple of years. The industry is at such a huge crossroads, communications have become a lot more personal, the US Postal Service is at a huge crossroads, new digital equipment is changing the game every day, and in some cases, printing is crossing the line and becoming interactive. The winner is the customer who wants new and better ways to communicate their message. And on top of all this printing and communications, I want to be in canoeing shape come springtime. I’m starting on my 4th week of recovery now and looking forward to every day of the rest of my life.