Bob Leiner has a very unique 50th!
(text below)
Bob Leiner turned 50 years old last week, and his friends set out to make it an event he would never forget.
Their gift rendered Leiner speechless, a feat nearly impossible for the fun-loving Chillicothe native.
Leiner planned to have a cook-out Saturday night with friends at the home of Doug and JoAnn Mooney in the 700 block of First Street.
"I was beginning to wonder when they were going to start cooking because I was getting hungry. Then Nicki Whitley comes riding up on a horse. I thought, okay, something's going on. Then I walk out to the alley and see these four people with signs. Okay these people have signs that say, 'Bob's parade is a one-horse parade'. So I thought, we're going to have a little parade with these four people. Then I walked out and there are people lined up all the way to the river!"
Word was out well in advance of the event that friends of Leiners were to gather at Cutright Park on Saturday, an hour before the 6 pm parade. Instructions were simple, wear a hat, dress up and be ready to play a kazoo. Many of those in the parade carried less than flattering pictures of Leiner.
And by the dozens that came. Some wore fun hats, others wild outfits. Trevor Mooney dressed up like Leiner. Darlene Kumpf made a float just for the parade.
The parade concluded at the Chillicothe American Legion, where a cook-out potluck continued well into the night.
When friends got together, trying to find out the definitive event for his birthday, it was Mary Horan's idea to plan a parade. With the help of Doug and JoAnn Mooney and Vicki and Greg Owens, the fix was on.
Leiner's circle of friends is wide and varied.
"He knows everybody," said one parade goer.
Leiner is the Western Yeast general manager but is probably best known for his many years of association with the Chillicothe Little League.
For each of his five decades he has either played, coached or managed in the Chillicothe Summer Youth Activities. Although his own two children, Abby and Adam, are college-aged, his most recent CSYA post is as a coach of a friend's son's tee-ball team. He's known as Coach Bob.
His best friend since third grade, Kevin Turner describes Leiner as first and foremost loyal and secondly, entertaining.
"He's just a fun guy to be around and, having grown up here, he knows a lot of people. He's tops - I think he's first class all the way," Turner said.