A local paper here did a story on me today. For those of you who don't live in Athens, you can read the article below.
Changing the earth one step at a time
Athens: glimpses of home
Jenaye Antonuccio
August 4, 2008
You will hardly ever find Lori Gromen in a car or lingering in the produce section. Seldom sitting still, she bikes, walks, runs, or races with teammates flipping discs in a game of “ultimate.” She has officiated weddings, helped people to see, and transformed yard to garden featuring such delicacies as gooseberries, currants and asparagus.
But this is her point of pride: she treads the earth lightly and lives simply.
“I feel I have made a difference (with) the way I live,” says Gromen. “I have a passion for the environment — that’s why I ride my bike, why I grow my own food. There is no reason NOT to.”
For the past six years, Gromen has biked or walked to work, spending half of her days inside the large brick building of Hillel House at 21 Mill St. Past the stained-glass window where sunlight paints colors on the floor, she manages the small office, keeps the budget, and works closely with the Rabbi Danielle LeShaw overseeing interns. Though Hillel centers provide for Jewish students’ needs on campuses nationally, Athens’ sole synagogue is unique in that it dually serves both community and students.
Gromen is not Jewish, but her natural friendliness spurs compatible relationships with the students and families. “I really enjoy our community functions,” Gromen says. “Everyone here is so nice and sincere.”
She recently attended a bar mitzvah for a boy who participated in a class along with four others. “They work so hard; they come every Tuesday,” she says. “This boy was the first one of the four (to graduate). I was proud of him.”
Interaction with a wide range of people and ages, including four years as an optician at Athens Pro Care Vision, coincides with Gromen’s affability. But a 14-year focus on ultimate (formerly known as “ultimate Frisbee”) has kept her anchored among one age group: college students. She has coached them, mentored them, and played them competitively.
“I enjoy being around college students,” she says. “It keeps me young.”
Her age is never a question in the eyes of the students. Their respect grows for her, however, when they learn that she’s 15 years older than they are, an Athens resident, and married to former men’s ultimate coach and First Ward City Council representative Kent Butler. “Besides their parents, we might be the only adults they interact with,” she said, referring to OU students. “They are constantly surrounded by their peers.
“Ultimate,” Gromen says, “is a sport (most haven’t grown) up playing. It helps to have someone who has been playing to guide and answer questions.” Though she and Butler have thrived in their addiction to ultimate, they have begun retiring from the sport. Says Gromen, “We have weaned ourselves off — our bodies can’t take it anymore.”
She also has run marathons and continues to bike. She claims that marathon running, similar to cycling, allows the mind to fall into a meditative state and observe passing scenery while the body is still challenged. Ultimate is about focus. “You need to be mentally clear,” she says. “If you get tired, then you become unfocused, and that is where mistakes are made. My body after an ultimate tournament is torn up a lot more than after a marathon.”
With less time spent on intense physical pursuits, more care has been put into her garden. Rising costs of food is an obvious motivation, but she also cites the simple inspiration of joy. “I’ve always loved gardening,” Gromen says. “I get out there and get our place looking decent.”
Four raised beds and various trees and bushes create a balanced selection of vegetables and fruits that cut half the cost of produce purchases. Onions, garlic and potatoes are abundant, along with blueberries, strawberries and peaches. The rest of the essentials are purchased from Kroger and the Farmer’s Market, all on bike. “As long as I can put it all in my panniers and backpack, I’ll take the bike,” says Gromen.
She loves the accessibility of the bike path and the newly created bike lanes. “I feel comfortable riding with cars,” she says. No matter what the weather, she persists in her conviction that biking is better. “It gets really icy around here, and I honestly have felt more comfortable on my bike than I would driving a car.”
Her mother, she says, has been her biggest influence and inspiration. Growing up as the third child, she was able to observe her mother’s transformation from primary caregiver to career woman. After years of working at the local preschool, her mother began earning her master’s in library science, and remained a librarian up until a few years ago.
This fall, Gromen says she will follow in her mother’s footsteps. Passion for the environment was the impetus to enroll in the master’s program in environmental studies. “I want to work outside in the field sampling water or air quality, or counting deer. Something that makes a difference in some way,” she says.
Southeast Ohio’s geography is similar to her Cincinnati homeland, and has made her feel settled here for 16 years. She says she hopes to help this area and repair watersheds.
Having traveled many places, she considered few others in which to reside. One place in particular appealed to her for its simplicity. A park system in Canada near the St. Lawrence River connected a series of lakes with hand-cranked locks. Says Gromen, “The people were so informative. They weren’t there for a summer job; they were adults still doing their hand-cranked locks. They would take the time out to talk to you and they kept everything clean.”
Her easy-going nature helps when she officiates weddings. ”I love being part of a couple’s special day,” says Gromen. “It’s fun being on that end of the ceremony.” Since receiving her license to marry people through the Spiritual Humanism Web site, she has officiated weddings for three different couples in Athens, the Outer Banks and Idaho.
A recent visit to her brother in Italy gave her a bug to own a bed and breakfast serving homemade mozzarella topped with olive oil, and give bike tours to her guests. Ultimately, though, the future in Athens looks good. “I want to stick around here,” she says.
