Name: Jim Spring
Occupation: Owner of Creative Visions photography and executive director of the Mayfield Area Chamber of Commerce. He retired after 40 years at Lubrizol, where he was head of the photography department and took pictures of engine parts so the sale force had visual proof of how well additives worked.
Hometown: Jim and his wife, Joan, are going to join the Gold Residents club in 2012 with 50 years in the house they had built. He's taken pictures of the city's fire and police departments, as well as children on the city little league, football and wrestling teams.
What he likes about running the chamber: "I like the detail work that is required –setting up newsletters, , handling constant phone calls. I get calls from anywhere in the U.S. from people who are moving here or thinking about moving here."
Proudest accomplishment: "I'm really proud to say that I did put in 40 years at Lubrizol. When I started in 1957, the founders were still there and running the company."
Why he became a photographer: "Back in the 1950s I was a freshman at Willoughby Union High School and I had a homeroom teacher who happened to be the camera club advisor. He told us that funding for clubs was determined by how many people showed up and said, 'I want you all of you to be at camera club tonight.' I saw a picture in the developer and then I saw the image and I was hooked."
How to make a difference locally: "When someone reaches where I'm at – a senior citizen – not enough people do volunteer work." In addition to serving as president of the Lubrizol retirees' club, he helps train residents at the Fairhill Center for Aging in how to use computers.
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