BLUE ASH — Ann Boehm is known for her flawless delivery. Today, she'll demonstrate it before Reds fans at Cinergy Field.

Ann Boehm and her grandson Michael Rose deliver Meals on Wheels. Ms. Boehm has been a volunteer with the program since 1988. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        Ms. Boehm, a Meals on Wheels volunteer at the Sycamore Senior Center since 1988, is one of 650 such volunteers from Ohio and Kentucky attending Meals on Wheels Day at the Reds. She won the chance to deliver the first pitch as Cincinnati takes on the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon. Her grandson, Michael Rose, will squat behind home plate to catch it.

        “I'm going to practice tomorrow at the 4-H picnic,” Ms. Boehm, of Montgomery, said Tuesday. “I've got a bad arm, so if I can't do it, I'll let him throw and I'll catch.”

        Cynthia Holloway, Sycamore Senior Center volunteer coordinator, was pleased that Ms. Boehm's name was drawn.

        “Ann works as a substitute meal delivery person four days a week,” she said. “Even though she's only subbing, she takes the time to establish relationships with people. She takes them plants. She hugs everybody. When she goes on vacation, clients ask where she is.”

TO VOLUNTEER

Sycamore Senior Center's Cynthia Holloway said Meals on Wheels volunteers are always needed.     “It takes about an hour and a half to complete the deliveries,” she said. “They work from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.”     Individuals can specify their schedules. While many volunteers are retired, some working folks get employers' permission to deliver meals on their lunch hour. The Sycamore center even gets the help of several home-schooling families.     Sycamore Senior Center provides services to 17 communities in Hamilton and Butler counties. Its counterparts are active in all other Tristate communities.     “People can call me and I'll refer them to the right place,” said Ms. Holloway.     Information: 984-1234.

        The day will be a welcome dose of Americana for Mr. Rose, who has just completed his stint in the Navy. On Sept. 17, the E5 gunner's mate shipped out from Norfolk, Va., on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and spent more than six months in the Arabian Sea off Pakistan's coast.

        Ms. Holloway got the idea for Day at the Reds more than four years ago during a Council on Aging meeting with representatives of other agencies.

        “We all had the same problem: no money and a lot of volunteers that get meals out every day, through every crisis,” she explained. “Not only are they delivering, but they're doing it at their expense because they use their own cars, buy their own gas.”

        She decided that an event providing recognition would be a good way to thank the hundreds of volunteers, and called the Reds business office to make arrangements.

        About 400 volunteers participated at the first Day at the Reds in 1999. Word quickly spread to other Meals on Wheels agencies and now groups travel to Cincinnati from as far away as Youngstown and Louisville. In past years, a chorus of volunteers has sung the national anthem.

        “Unfortunately, we can't have them sing this year because it's a nationally televised game, and the team has hired a professional singer,” Ms. Holloway said.
       

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