Angela Lombardo

A night which features wine, shoes and celebrating the achievements of working women.

A time to recognize and honor those who are making a strong impact in the lives of their family, their business and the entire Ohio Valley community.

It is a tradition that continues to help local students achieve their dreams.

The Ohio Valley Business and Professional Women’s Club is finalizing the details for its upcoming Wine and Shoe Extravaganza.

Cynthia Lytle

The event will take place at 6 p.m. April 18 at St. Florian Hall.

The annual celebration is the club’s main fundraiser for its scholarship program, which assists local students and women returning to the workforce.

The evening will feature a variety of activities, including hors d’ouevres and wine; a basket and purse auction; the Best in Shoe Competition in which guests are encouraged to wear their most fabulous shoes to win prizes; and celebrity servers competing for votes.

The main event will honor this year’s nominees for Woman of the Year.

On the ballot are Angela Icuss Lombardo, Cynthia Lytle, Michelle Miller, Dawn Lamantia Scaffidi and Kristen Wheeler-Kurner.

Michelle Miller

Attendees will be given a ballot along with their ticket and admission. They will then cast their vote for Woman of the Year and their choice of best shoes.

Tickets are $35. Sponsorships are also available. To purchase tickets and sponsorships, visit the website bit.ly/bpwwineandshoe.

Members of the Wine and Shoe Committee include: Lori Rawson, chair; Megan Presley, president; Brandi Birkhimer; Julie Decker; Ann Johnston, vice president; Dorothy Kovach; Leanna Lulla; Mari Ann Ohba, treasurer; Phyllis Riccadonna; Jeannine Sawon; Amelia Taggart; Angela Tarquinio; and Martina Watkins, secretary.

An alphabetical look at the Woman of the Year nominees follows, along with information the honorees provided:

Angela Lombardo

Lombardo was born and raised in Steubenville. She is married to Jeff Lombardo, a teacher and coach at Steubenville High School. Together they have two daughters who attend Steubenville High School.

Lombardo was raised in her family’s business, Legal Hair and Day Spa. It was under her parents’ influence and encouragement that she and her brother decided to open their first restaurant.

Lombardo blended her education in business from Baldwin Wallace College and her certification as a holistic health coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to create the Ohio Valley’s first and only plant-based eatery, Fresh-twist. The restaurant’s concept was born from her strong desire to provide convenient access to healthy food in our area.

Since its opening in 2019, Fresh-twist has grown and thrived right alongside its customers. The business now has a second location in Follansbee, partnering with SYNA and the Bluewave Center to support its mission for holistic wellness.

She has established a partnership with the Franciscan University of Steubenville to make healthy and organic eating more accessible to the college’s students.

In addition to these relationships, she has teamed up with the Foster-Fluharty Farm in Smithfield to provide the true farm-to-table experience at Fresh-twist and to support local farmers.

Lombardo serves as a wellness resource for the community, spending time speaking to local athletes, students and organizations on ways to prevent disease and promote health and wellness through lifestyle.

Fresh-twist is helping to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. She credits the success of Fresh-twist to her team, most of whom have been working alongside her for several years.

“Fresh-twist would not be what it is today without the ‘Fresh-twist’ family,” she stated.

Lombardo’s passion projects include raising awareness and providing support to families affected by PANDAS disorder, an under-diagnosed form of autoimmune disease that affects mainly children. Her passion for wellness is rooted in her experience of helping both her children heal and recover from immune-related disorders.

Lombardo believes in turning pain into purpose and that journey has fueled her mission to help others improve their health through high-quality nutrition and lifestyle choices.

Cynthia M. Lytle

Lytle has served as director of Urban Mission Ministries’ Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement for 10 years. As director of community engagement, she is dedicated to connecting members of the community to meaningful service opportunities through the work of the Urban Mission and other local agencies.

Lytle oversees the Neighborhood Community Development branch of the Urban Mission, working to increase the capacity of community members and increase their quality of life in the areas of health, education and spiritual growth.

Annually, she is responsible for coordinating several community outreach events, including a fall coat drive and distribution, a Back-to-School Bash and giveaway, a mobile summer food pantry, Hunger Action Month events, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness events and a series of health-related events held in observance of National Minority Health Month.

In addition to this community work, she serves as chairperson of the scholarship committee for the Martin Luther King Association of Steubenville.

She has served as a member of the Civil Service Commission since 2020.

Lytle is a graduate of Ohio State University, where she received her BA in African-American and African Studies.

She is the recipient of the 2018 YWCA Women of Distinction Award and the 2024 Pathfinder Award.

Lytle is married to Wayne Lytle. Together, they have four children, Jackson, Nina-Simone, Wayne and Carter. She and her family attend Wintersville Methodist Church, where the couple oversees the music and performing arts ministries.

Michelle Miller

Miller, a Jefferson County Common Pleas Court judge, is the daughter of Manuel and Carol Garcia. She is the widow of the late Rick Miller, a lifelong resident of Jefferson County and owner of Rick Miller Construction Co. She is the proud parent of her daughter, Meredith, a graduate from Wheeling Jesuit University and the University of Cincinnati.

Miller grew up with her younger brother, Manual B. Garcia III, in Smithfield. She is a member of the Smithfield Christian Church.

After graduating from Buckeye North High School in Brilliant, she attended the Ohio Valley Hospital School of Nursing, graduating with her degree in nursing. She practiced as a registered nurse in the Cincinnati area for approximately 10 years.

Her areas of nursing practice included the med/surg unit, neonatal ICU and surgical units. She completed her bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Cincinnati, graduating cum laude in 1993.

While a student, she was the founding student member of the University of Cincinnati’s mock trial team. After graduating, Miller continued to coach its mock trial team until entering law school.

Prior to law school, Miller worked as a nurse paralegal at the law firm of Arnzen, Parry and Wentz, where she was part of the medical malpractice defense team and class-action litigation team. She earned her law degree at Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2001.

During her final year of law school, she returned home and completed her studies at Duquesne Law School, during which time she worked as a summer law clerk for the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office.

After passing the bar exam, she joined Vavra Law Offices as a junior associate, practicing primarily in the areas of domestic, juvenile and criminal defense law.

Miller served as solicitor for the villages of Smithfield, Tiltonsville, Rayland and Wells Township. In 2009, she opened her own general practice in Brilliant, practicing in numerous counties including Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison and Monroe. She served as domestic magistrate to Common Pleas Judge Joseph J. Bruzzese Jr.

Elected to the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas in 2014, she was the first woman to take the bench in Jefferson County.

Miller is the presiding judge over the Jefferson County Drug Court Program from which she received her certification on Sept. 8, 2017. Miller also sits on the Criminal Law and Procedure and Jury Service committees of the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association.

She is a member of the Jefferson County and Ohio State Bar Associations and is a trustee for the Ohio Women’s Bar Association.

In 2018, Miller was given the Women of Distinction honor by the Steubenville YWCA and the Award of Excellence by the Ohio Common Pleas Judges Association.

She previously served on the board of the nonprofit Ohio Valley Health Center, serving uninsured and under-insured residents of Jefferson County.

She served on the committee for the Jefferson County Wine Festival, which benefits Jefferson County’s Friendship Park. She is a member of the Smithfield Garden Club and Smithfield Historical Society.

Miller was given the Outstanding Community Partnership Award in 2019 by Jefferson Behavioral Health System.

She enjoys her canine friends, Maggie and Ralph, and her feline friend, Elle. She also enjoys gardening and spending time outdoors.

Dawn Scaffidi

As a longtime resident of Steubenville, Scaffidi graduated from Steubenville High School. She continued her education at the Bradford School of Business, where she achieved a bachelor’s degree in business management.

Scaffidi’s career path led her into retail management, where she traveled the Midwest and East Coast opening and managing stores for many of the top clothing brands.

After witnessing the events of 9-11 unfold from her nearby apartment, she re-evaluated her priorities and decided to move back home to Steubenville.

Not long after, she met her husband, Nino, and the couple started a family.

She took work in local retail, happy but not fulfilled. She had always known she was destined to pursue a greater calling.

With the support of her family, some good advice and “a wing and a prayer,” she launched Scaffidi Restaurant with her husband.

The small location was outgrown and within 14 months, they decided to take a leap of faith — opening their current location. Since that day more than 15 years ago, she has been living her passion.

“We have employed hundreds of local people, continuing to give back to community and continuously growing the Scaffidi brand,” Scaffidi said.

Kristen Wheeler-Kurner

Wheeler-Kurner grew up in Mingo Junction. The funeral director and owner of Wheeler Funeral Home Inc. with locations in Brilliant and Mingo Junction, she came from a hardworking family.

Her father, William Wheeler, purchased Wheeler Funeral Home in Brilliant in 1982 with no previous family in funeral service. He built the business from the ground up and in 1997 expanded to a second location in Mingo Junction.

Her mother, Barbara Wheeler, was a registered nurse at various places throughout the Ohio Valley. She worked off and on while Wheeler-Kurner and her brother, Joe Wheeler, were growing up.

During her junior year of high school, her father asked if she wanted to come to the funeral home and help him, as he needed assistance in cleaning, door attending and office work. After having worked there many months, she thought, “Maybe this is what I should be doing, too.”

Following her graduation from Indian Creek High School, Wheeler-Kurner decided to go to Jefferson Community College in Steubenville and spent three years working on her degrees — while continuing to work at the funeral home. During her time there, she was in Phi Theta Kappa, the colleges honor society. It was then that she began to see how rewarding it was to help people.

Graduating in 2001 with two associate degrees — the first in business management, the second in accounting, Wheeler-Kurner went on to continue her education. In 2003, she graduated cum laude from West Liberty State College with a bachelor of science degree in business management, with a specialization in accounting.

It was after graduating college when the real learning began. She began her two-year apprenticeship to become a funeral director, working alongside her father to learn every aspect of the business that she could. She initially thought about going to mortuary school and becoming an embalmer, but after touring the school, decided it wasn’t the path for her.

“I would much rather work directly with the families,” she said. “After two years of learning and growing, I took my state test to become a licensed funeral director in Ohio.”

Once licensed, she began taking on more responsibilities, with the main responsibility being meeting with grieving families coming to the funeral home to make arrangements for their loved one.

“This is one of the most important parts of the funeral process … because this is how you learn about the life of the deceased and how the families of the ones we are caring for want their loved one to be celebrated,” Wheeler-Kurner stated.

“No matter if it’s a simple cremation or a two-day funeral and burial service with all the bells and whistles, each call is unique,” she continued. “We customize our service to fit the needs of each family. I can’t tell you how rewarding it is when the family that I am working with tells me that I made one of the worst times of their life a little easier. It’s an honor to be the chosen funeral home to care for their loved one. I feel that the natural instincts that some women have with their attention to detail and organization are a vital asset to run any business or organization.”

In 2006, she married Michael Kurner, a graduate of West Liberty. The couple has been working together since 2009, when Michael started his apprenticeship at the funeral home. She was able to teach him some of the things she learned along the way to help him become a licensed funeral director in 2011.

“I do my best to help the people who trusted me with their loved one’s final arrangements by giving back to the community in any way I can,” she said. “It could be sponsoring a baseball team, donating to a spaghetti dinner benefit or giving a Chinese drawing item to an organization. Anything I can do to help others is a blessing.”

Wheeler-Kurner said many years ago, she began working with the late Sophia Schoolcraft at the former Mingo Social Services.

“The gratitude and appreciation that came from most of the people receiving the food to help with their holiday dinner was heartwarming,” she exclaimed. “The friendships that came out of everyone working together for a good cause was a bonus. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband and kids, decorating my house for the holidays, hosting family and friends for holidays and parties and attending an occasional craft class.”

Having worked in the funeral industry for 26 years and becoming the owner of Wheeler Funeral Home Inc. Jan. 1, Wheeler-Kurner said if you work hard, listen to the needs of others, help when and where you can and treat people how you would want to be treated — that is the secret to success.

“I wouldn’t be the person that I am today without my parents, my husband, Mike, and our two children, Brody, who is 15, and Harper, 11, along with many supportive friends,” she concluded. “I can’t imagine my life doing anything other than what I am right now. There are challenges, but those challenges are what you learn from and what make you a better person.”