PROGRAM GUIDE 2013

Community Festival 2013 59Marilyn Kehlwas typical of mostpeople who work forsocial change: mostpeople wouldn't knowher name. But shewas a major force in making recycling amainstream activity in Columbus.From her time with the recyclingproject of the Northend CommunityCenter (NCC, which was later absorbedinto Community Festival) to her years asNCC president, Marilyn brought moreenergy into what she did than anyone elseI knew. I was also a committed recycler,but I could never keep up with her.She and her partner at the time, KurtHanushek, moved the recycling aspect ofNCC forward when the building housingit burned in 1982. Most people thoughtthat the NCC Corporation, like much ofthe building, was toast. But Marilyn &Kurt forged ahead with recycling on thebuilding lot and eventually in a warehousewest of OSU. Later she expandedrecycling further at a site on the northeastside.The operation was so successful that itincurred the wrath and legal maneuveringsof the two largest private-owned multimaterialrecyclers in town. Although thelitigation was eventually concluded, theregional recycling process had leapfroggedover the business plan that Marilyn andour NCC board had developed. Ironically,the success of what NCC's recycling builtunder the leadership of Marilyn Kehl madeit delectable enough for private business toundermine and supplant. Like many othersocial changes, the innovations of a smallgroup eventually became accepted by andabsorbed into the larger culture.With other neighborhood activists,Marilyn was also a key figure in the OSU/IN MEMORIAMMarilyn KehlClintonville neighborhood organizationCitizens Against Glen Echo Rezoning(CAGER). The group succeeded instopping a local developer whosecommercial plans would have turned alocal environmental gem into the sewerdrain. Today the Glen Echo Ravine is abeloved green space and not something toavoid. We have Marilyn Kehl to thank formuch of that achievement.Marilyn also made recycling a basicpart of the clean-up operation of ComFestin its early years. In recognition of thatand other ways she helped the festivalgrow, including during its move from 16thAvenue & Waldeck to the Short North,Community Festival planted a Fringe treenot far from where we will have the LiveArts Stage.Marilyn was a large woman whosebackground (working class single mother)and rough exterior (nearly alwaysdisheveled and blunt to the point ofoffense) gave no hint of her intelligenceand energy. Her appearance led somepeople to underestimate her, a mistakethey didn't make twice.She later moved to Toledo, where shemarried a gay man out of sheer love andbecame an important figure in the city'sLGBT community. No matter what shechose to do, she was a key mover andshaper.Few people know that she wasalso a skilled writer of short storiesthat regrettably were never published.Smart and fully committed to makinga difference, she was a gentle, strong,loving person who juggled job, family,and social action to change the culture ofColumbus.—Bill FinzelParking InfoDon’t park up the Goodale Parkneighborhood!Remember that city parkingregulations are fully enforcedduring ComFest. Don't spoil yourComFest experience by parkingin a place from which you will betowed.There are ample commercialparking lots and garages southof Goodale Park in the ArenaDistrict.Allow plenty of extra time tofind parking spaces. Respect theneighborhood around the park.We are all visitors for the threedays of ComFest.Don’t park at Giant EagleThurber Village or you will be towed!Handicapped ParkingEast side of Dennisonmarked spaces south of Buttles.Park Street at Buttles - first eightspaces on the southeast corner.All regular marked handicappedspaces on surrounding streets.