Paying it forward
Dave Rinebolt – our previous executive director who passed in July 2021 – was known for his many hobbies. Dave loved baseball. His sons played growing up. And despite not living in Cleveland (Dave was a son of the Findlay, OH community), he was a huge Indians/Guardians fan.
We went to many games together. Baseball was one of the activities we did together as friends. One of our favorite Indians players was the great Manny Ramirez, a 12-time All Star and 2-time World Series champion. I had won in a silent auction some years ago a signed Manny Ramirez bat that Dave always coveted.
That bat was put on display last month at Weatherize Ohio. I donated it to the silent auction because I wanted to pass along the joy I always had when watching games with Dave. I watched as the bidding for the bat went up…and up…and up…finally landing on a “sold” price of $180. Rob McMaster from GLCAP was the highest bidder. He was bidding on the bat in the hopes of gifting it to his grandfather for Christmas. Rob’s grandfather is a big Indians/Guardian fan like Dave and I and what a great gift it will be for him to receive the signed bat this Christmas.
The purpose of our silent auction was to raise money for the Dave Rinebolt Scholarship Fund. The fund was established in Dave’s memory with a focus on awarding men and women scholarships for legal education to follow in Dave’s footsteps and defending the low-income in utility rates cases of the future. Our industry needs to continue pursuing talent from the next generation. And if we can turn young men and women on to a career in helping the low-income families…well, that’s a home run!
