Your Neighbors Are Doing What? Five Smithville Residents and the Incredible Hobbies They're Hiding

Most of us have a pretty fixed idea of who our neighbors are. There's the retired teacher down the block. The plumber with the pickup truck. The quiet accountant who waves from the driveway on Sunday mornings. We slot people into familiar categories and move on.

But spend a little time actually talking to the people of Smithville, and a more interesting picture emerges. Behind the ordinary weekday routines and the familiar faces at the grocery store and the gas station, there are lives being lived with remarkable passion and creativity. We tracked down five residents whose after-hours pursuits are nothing short of extraordinary.

1. Tom Bricker, 54 — Auto Mechanic by Day, Master Woodworker by Night

If you've ever taken your car to Bricker's Auto on County Road 7, you've met Tom. He's the guy with the grease-stained hands and the easy laugh who tells you straight what's wrong with your transmission without making you feel bad about it. What you probably don't know is that when Tom goes home, he heads straight to a workshop behind his house where he creates hand-carved furniture that has been featured in two regional craft exhibitions.

"I started carving when my back started acting up and I needed something to do sitting down," Tom explains, running his hand along a nearly finished rocking chair with a carved floral motif so intricate it looks machine-made. It isn't. "Now I can't stop. My wife says I'm obsessed. She's not wrong."

Tom works primarily in walnut and cherry wood, sourcing timber from local sawmills when he can. His pieces — chairs, side tables, decorative panels — take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to complete. He doesn't sell them. Most go to family members or get donated to local charity auctions.

"It's not about the money," he says. "It's about making something with your hands that'll outlast you."

2. Priya Nair, 38 — School Librarian and Competitive Baker

Priya Nair has been the head librarian at Smithville Elementary for nine years. She's the person who got an entire second-grade class hooked on the Wings of Fire series and who stays late to help kids find books on topics their parents didn't even know they were curious about. She is, by all accounts, exceptional at her job.

She is also, by the evidence of the trophy shelf in her dining room, an exceptional baker.

Priya has competed in regional and state-level baking competitions for six years, specializing in laminated doughs — croissants, danishes, kouign-amann — the kind of technically demanding pastry work that makes most home bakers break into a cold sweat. She has placed in the top three at the Ohio State Fair twice and won her division at the Tri-County Baking Classic three years running.

"People think baking is relaxing," she says, laughing. "Competitive baking is not relaxing. Competitive baking is chess, but the pieces are made of butter and they melt."

Priya brings her creations to school events and staff meetings, which has made her arguably the most popular person in the building. She's also started teaching informal baking workshops out of her home on weekend afternoons, free of charge, for anyone who wants to learn.

3. Dale Hutchins, 61 — Retired Postal Carrier and Amateur Astronomer

Dale Hutchins spent thirty-two years delivering mail in Smithville. He knows every street, every mailbox, and by the end of his career, the name and general life situation of most of the people behind them. These days, he spends his nights looking in the opposite direction — straight up.

Dale has been an amateur astronomer for fifteen years. His backyard setup includes a fourteen-inch reflector telescope, a tracking mount, and a camera rig that he built himself from parts sourced online and salvaged from a university surplus sale. On clear nights, he's out there until two or three in the morning, imaging nebulae, tracking asteroid positions, and logging observations he submits to citizen science databases used by professional researchers.

"I've reported eleven near-Earth object observations that got picked up by the Minor Planet Center," he says, with the kind of quiet pride that doesn't need to be louder than it is. "That means something. Real scientists used my data."

Dale runs a monthly stargazing meetup at the Smithville Community Park, bringing his telescope and a folding table full of star charts for anyone who wants to come look. Attendance has grown from six people to over forty since he started three years ago.

"The sky belongs to everybody," he says. "I just want to help people remember to look at it."

4. Carmen Ruiz, 29 — Dental Receptionist and Competitive Roller Derby Skater

Carmen Ruiz answers phones and manages scheduling at Smithville Family Dental Monday through Friday. On weekends, she straps on a helmet, knee pads, and a pair of quad skates and competes under the name "Molar Mayhem" for the Lake Erie Roller Derby League.

Yes, really.

"I started skating when I was twenty-five and I've never looked back," Carmen says. She's showing us a bruise on her forearm the size of a grapefruit with the casual indifference of someone who has long since made peace with the physical cost of her sport. "People think it's aggressive, and it is, but it's also incredibly strategic. You have to think fast. You have to trust your team."

Roller derby, for the uninitiated, is a full-contact sport played on a flat oval track, with players earning points by lapping members of the opposing team. It requires speed, agility, and a willingness to fall — and get back up — repeatedly.

Carmen has skated in bouts across the Midwest and serves as a co-captain of her team. She's also working to organize a scrimmage event in Smithville this fall, hoping to bring the sport to a local audience for the first time.

"I want people here to see it," she says. "Once you watch a live bout, you're hooked. It's electric."

5. Gerald "Gerry" Moss, 72 — Retired Teacher and Championship-Level Fly Fisherman

Gerry Moss taught high school history in Smithville for thirty-eight years. He retired in 2018 and has spent the years since doing exactly what he always said he would: fishing.

But calling what Gerry does "fishing" is a little like calling what Yo-Yo Ma does "playing the cello." Technically accurate, wildly insufficient.

Gerry is a fly fisherman of serious competitive standing, having placed at the national level in the Federation of Fly Fishers casting championships twice. He also ties his own flies — tiny, intricate artificial lures made from thread, feathers, and wire — with a precision that has drawn admirers from across the region. His fly-tying work has been featured in two national fishing publications.

"Fly fishing is part science, part art, part philosophy," Gerry says. He's seated at a vise in his study, attaching a microscopic tuft of deer hair to a hook no bigger than your pinky nail. "You're trying to think like a fish. You're trying to understand water. Most days, the fish wins. That's fine. That's the point."

Gerry volunteers as a youth fishing instructor through the local parks department every summer, teaching kids the basics of casting and catch-and-release. He says it's the best part of his week.

The Town Behind the Town

What strikes you, talking to these five people, is how generously they share what they love. Tom donates his furniture. Priya teaches baking for free. Dale sets up his telescope in the park. Carmen wants to bring derby to Smithville. Gerry teaches kids to fish.

None of them had to do any of that. They do it because their hobbies, however personal, have a way of spilling outward — connecting them to neighbors, to community, to something larger than themselves.

That's Smithville, really. Ordinary on the surface. Extraordinary underneath.

Know a Smithville resident with a remarkable hobby or hidden talent? Send us a tip at smithvilleherald.com — we're always looking for the next great local story.