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Local businessman stars in Frank Capra-like drama
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By: STEPHANIE GARBER Staff Reporter
While it may not be "our" holiday, last Saturday Steve Presser probably felt very much like a real-life version of George Bailey in the holiday classic, "It's a Wonderful Life."
In response to an anonymous e-mail, throngs of shoppers converged on Presser's Coventry Road novelty and toy store called "Big Fun."
The e-mail asked folks to come out and support Steve and his family in light of the closing of his other business, Dottie's Diner, in Cleveland Heights.
"Steve has always given our community his time and energy. Every time someone asks him for a donation for a silent auction or other affair, he donates," noted the message, which made its way throughout the community several times (but never to Presser. "(Let's buy) every last pooping-pig keychain, lunchbox, comic book, postcard, refrigerator magnet and tasteless novelty for our gift-giving to give Big Fun a record-breaking sales day."
And they did. "The place was packed!" Peggy Spaeth, secretary designate of the Cedar-Lee special improvement district, enthuses. "I got there about 11:15, and it took me an hour to get through the line.
Presser, Spaeth notes, was further holding up progress because he had to schmooze with every customer whose turn it was at the cash register. "Someone finally had to tell him to get out from behind the counter!" she laughs.
So, while someone else rang up the steady stream of sales, Presser strolled around the store with a much lighter step than the one he'd left his house with that morning, ringing bells and telling friend after friend, "You're an angel."
"We really wanted to do something for Steve," says Spaeth. "You feel so helpless when something like this (the closing of Dottie's Diner) happens. We're a fringe community, or an inner-ring suburb. We have a tradition of welcoming all people, and everyone feels comfortable here no matter who they are. Steve always felt so strongly about protecting, preserving and promoting that community spirit. This was an opportunity for us to support him."
Even the younger folk came out to show their support. "Some kids about 7 or 8 years old set up a hot chocolate stand in front of Big Fun," says Kim Steigerwald, assistant director of planning for Cleveland Heights. "They made $99, and they really hardly sold any drinks. So many people just wanted to give a donation."
"I'll get through this other grief (the closing of Dottie's Diner) now," Presser told the CJN on Monday morning. "My batteries have been recharged."
Presser likened Saturday's community show of support to an old-fashioned barn raising. "I was just overwhelmed."
Presser had recently come across a dusty box filled with plastic sheriff's badges with the Big Fun logo on them. On Saturday, he handed one to each customer, rang a bell, and told them, "Thank you. You've earned your wings." And he cried - a lot.
"Someday," Presser told the children in his crowded small novelty store as he pressed a badge into their mittened hands, "you're going to find this in a drawer, and you're going to think, 'What the heck is this?' And I hope you'll remember that day on Coventry - the day you learned the difference between a city and a community."
In response to an anonymous e-mail, throngs of shoppers converged on Presser's Coventry Road novelty and toy store called "Big Fun."
The e-mail asked folks to come out and support Steve and his family in light of the closing of his other business, Dottie's Diner, in Cleveland Heights.
"Steve has always given our community his time and energy. Every time someone asks him for a donation for a silent auction or other affair, he donates," noted the message, which made its way throughout the community several times (but never to Presser. "(Let's buy) every last pooping-pig keychain, lunchbox, comic book, postcard, refrigerator magnet and tasteless novelty for our gift-giving to give Big Fun a record-breaking sales day."
And they did. "The place was packed!" Peggy Spaeth, secretary designate of the Cedar-Lee special improvement district, enthuses. "I got there about 11:15, and it took me an hour to get through the line.
Presser, Spaeth notes, was further holding up progress because he had to schmooze with every customer whose turn it was at the cash register. "Someone finally had to tell him to get out from behind the counter!" she laughs.
So, while someone else rang up the steady stream of sales, Presser strolled around the store with a much lighter step than the one he'd left his house with that morning, ringing bells and telling friend after friend, "You're an angel."
"We really wanted to do something for Steve," says Spaeth. "You feel so helpless when something like this (the closing of Dottie's Diner) happens. We're a fringe community, or an inner-ring suburb. We have a tradition of welcoming all people, and everyone feels comfortable here no matter who they are. Steve always felt so strongly about protecting, preserving and promoting that community spirit. This was an opportunity for us to support him."
Even the younger folk came out to show their support. "Some kids about 7 or 8 years old set up a hot chocolate stand in front of Big Fun," says Kim Steigerwald, assistant director of planning for Cleveland Heights. "They made $99, and they really hardly sold any drinks. So many people just wanted to give a donation."
"I'll get through this other grief (the closing of Dottie's Diner) now," Presser told the CJN on Monday morning. "My batteries have been recharged."
Presser likened Saturday's community show of support to an old-fashioned barn raising. "I was just overwhelmed."
Presser had recently come across a dusty box filled with plastic sheriff's badges with the Big Fun logo on them. On Saturday, he handed one to each customer, rang a bell, and told them, "Thank you. You've earned your wings." And he cried - a lot.
"Someday," Presser told the children in his crowded small novelty store as he pressed a badge into their mittened hands, "you're going to find this in a drawer, and you're going to think, 'What the heck is this?' And I hope you'll remember that day on Coventry - the day you learned the difference between a city and a community."
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