PEMBERVILLE — Eastwood’s Hall of Fame will induct four new members on Feb. 24 in the high school gym.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with the presentations starting at 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

The cost is $15 per person with children under the age of 5 admitted free. Send name, phone number and the number of people attending with a corresponding check to Marcia Cousino, P.O. Box 397, Pemberville, Oh 43450. Make checks payable to Alumni Association of Eastwood.

The inductees are Joseph Hirzel, Darla (Abke) Boyk, Tom and Jane (Swartz) Lingenfelder and Aaron Lawniczak.

Hirzel graduated from Olney School (now Northwood) in 1955 and attended the University of Toledo and Ohio State University. During his school years, he would spend his free time with his father in the family business, the Hirzel Canning Company factory. Hirzel Canning purchased the tomato plant in Pemberville in 1954 and at 17, Joe became manager. Then in 1956, Joe’s father received a phone call asking for help with a tomato canning plant in Rock Sound on the Bahamian Island of Eleuthera. At 19, Joe was sent to help get the plant running smoothly.

In his dedication to canning, agriculture, and community, Joe has served in many roles of leadership.

In 1979, he served as president of the Ohio Food Processors Association, he started the Center for Innovative Food Technology (CIFT) Ag Incubator which has worked with Eastwood High School, Otsego High School, Penta Vocational High School, and the Northwest Ohio Cooperative Kitchen (NOCK), he helped found Eastwood Community Improvement Corporation (EDIC), he served on the Pemberville Zoning Appeals Board, he was a board member at the Luckey Exchange Bank, he helped provide scholarships at Eastwood High School and he offered summer jobs for area students.

Joe met his future wife at the Pemberville factory and in 1966, he and Julia Williams were married. Together they have five children: Carla (Todd) Greenlese, Jessica Hirzel, Joe (Francisca) Hirzel II, Otto (Jenni) Hirzel, and Tekla (Rom) DuPlain. There are nice grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Nineteen members of Joe’s family are Eastwood alumni or current students.

Hirzel Canning Company, (which was originally founded on sauerkraut; tomatoes weren’t added until the third year), celebrated its 100th year in 2023. Joe was employed with the company for 75 of those years. Hirzel Canning is currently being run by the 4th and 5th generations of the Hirzel family.

Boyk graduated from Eastwood High School in 1981. While a student, she participated in band, soccer, 4-H, and church choir, and Luther League at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. She then earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Capital University, followed by veterinary school at Ohio State University. Since then, she has been practicing small animal medicine at several local veterinary clinics. She married Dave Boyk in 1987, and they have two children, Megan and Joe.

Boyk

Darla’s first trip to Honduras was in 2017 with a group from John Carroll University (JCU), where her daughter was a graduate. They traveled to remote mountain villages with an average income of less than $2 per day, bringing doctors, nurses, and suitcases full of medication, and saw over a thousand patients a week. While volunteering, Darla saw many patients with gastrointestinal illnesses as a result of poor access to clean water. She saw many children who were anemic, malnourished, and frequently ill because of preventable infections from parasites, bacteria, and viruses in their drinking water. Upon returning home, the couple reached out to the JCU team asking what they would do to better serve their patients if money were no issue. They received a quick reply – water filters.

Since Bethlehem Lutheran Church had supported JCU’s work in Honduras previously by purchasing medications and supplies, Darla and Dave asked for additional funding to purchase and distribute household water filters. The church and its members not only quickly raised funds to purchase 126 filters, but also supported the formation of Mission Honduras, which purchases and distributes filters for Honduran villages and provides follow-up visits for ongoing education and monitoring. This helped to establish long-term relationships with the medical and filter brigades and the Honduran communities they serve, growing the filter ministry into neighboring communities as well.

Mission Honduras has affected not only rural Hondurans, but the Eastwood community as well as it has come together to support the filter ministry. Many community members have helped to raise funding for filters, and others have made trips to Honduras themselves to meet those affected by unsanitary drinking water and see the life-changing impact of the filters for themselves. Mission Honduras has distributed 1,670 water filters to a total of 8,300 Hondurans, and these villages have seen an 87% decrease in gastrointestinal symptoms at medical brigades.

Together, Tom and Jane (Swartz) Lingenfelder helped create educational excellence in Eastwood schools: loving their students, guiding and motivating them throughout their school years to be valuable, responsible citizens after graduation.

Tom and Jane have been married since 1978. They have two children, Ross (Karis) and Brooke, both graduated from Eastwood (2002, 2004). They have two grandsons, Jack and James Lingenfelder.

Tom and Jane are members of the First United Presbyterian Church.

Tom grew up in Rossford, graduating from Rossford High School in 1971, where he was the school’s baseball catcher. He has a Master’s and Bachelor of Education degrees from University of Toledo. He was also was a baseball catcher at UT.

Prior to Eastwood, Tom taught fifth grade at Oregon Schools for four years and fifth and sixth grades at Glenwood Elementary in Rossford for six years. He was also Rossford’s assistant varsity football coach and head girls’ high school basketball coach.

Tom was an Eastwood elementary principal for 34 years (1985-2018) and was instrumental in consolidating the elementary schools. He started out as Webster principal (five years), Webster and Pemberville school principal (26 years), Pemberville and Luckey principal (two years) and at Pemberville until the new Eastwood Elementary school opened (5.5 years). He served with four superintendents and six secretaries.

Jane grew up in the country outside of Pemberville and graduated from Eastwood in 1971. In high school, Jane was on student council, was a cheerleader/pep club, Girls Athletic Association, girl’s ensemble/girl’s/mixed chorus, Swingin’ Ez, Arion club, AQUILA staff and Spanish club.

Jane received a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction plus a Bachelor of Science degree, both from Ashland College.

Jane was an Eastwood second grade teacher from 1976-2011.

During the last 12 years, Jane has continued teaching beyond Eastwood schools, working for the Wood County Educational Service Center as a prevention specialist. She has impacted over 1,000 children with the B.A.B.E.S. (Beginning Awareness Basic Education Studies) program, which is a program for Wood County second grade students. The program teaches about self-esteem, coping skills, peer pressure, and making good decisions.

Jane was also a PAX (Peace, Productivity, Health and Happiness) Partner for eight years. The program nurtures self-regulation in peer-contexts in order to improve attention and reduce impulsivity.

Jane also has been a Wood County teacher mentor for six years; mentoring over 10 teachers.

Some say Lawniczak, class of 1997, was one of the greatest athletes to ever graduate from Eastwood High School. He earned a multitude of individual honors, shattered numerous school records, received All Ohio accolades in two different sports and left behind an incomparable, powerful legacy at Eastwood.

Lawniczak

He maintained a quiet and unpretentious demeanor and was highly respected by his peers, teammates, teachers, coaches, and community members.

Aaron brought the community together and filled the Eastwood gym, stands and bleachers like no other athlete has to date.

Basketball honors include:

• 1st Team all SLL 95’, 96, 97’

• 1997 SLL Player of the Year

• 1st Team all Wood County 1997

• 1997 Wood County scoring title

• 1st Team Toledo Blade All Metro Team 1997

• 1st Team District 7 95’, 96’, 97’

• 1997 District 7 Player of the Year

• 1st Team all Ohio 1997

• Highest scoring average in the state of Ohio 1997

• MVP Ohio North-South All-Star game 1997

Baseball records include 51 hits single season, senior season pitching record 9-5 with two saves and 2.60 ERA and 94 strike outs, senior season stats batting avg (.560), RBI (40), home runs (7), one strike out in 91 at bats his senior year.

Aaron broke 27 Eastwood High School basketball records, including single game – most points (50), most field goals (20), most points in a half (32), most defensive rebounds (17); regular season – most points (554), scoring average (32.6), 20 point games (17); all games season – scoring average (32.3), 20 point games (17), 3 point field goals (51); career records – points (1,635), scoring average (20.4), 3 point field goals (133), 20 point games (49).