Coach Wayne Wheeler
Mason Middle School Boys Track & Field Head Coach and
Boys Cross Country Head Coach
Coach Wayne Wheeler turned his long-time passion for running into a career after hearing an inspiring sermon about giving back, more than 25 years ago. At the time, he was in the architectural engineering business, but he felt a strong calling to do more.
“We all have a talent or a gift that can be shared, and as a runner myself I wanted to share,” says Coach Wheeler.
After stints at Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy and Ross High School, he’s been with Mason City Schools for 17 years where he is the Mason Middle School boys track & field head coach and boys cross country head coach. While they do have a very successful program, it’s about much more than running and winning for Coach Wheeler.
“What really gets me most excited about running and coaching is building characteristics into the lives of young men that are important for the rest of their lives, such as commitment, dedication, goal setting, teamwork and making sacrifices to achieve a goal. These are things they can carry with them beyond this experience,” he shares.
What he’s found in Mason (where he lives and coaches) is a community that values and takes pride in its school district. Many parents also have a built-in culture and tradition of running. He sees this reflected in the attitudes of the kids and the coaches he works with as well.
“The kids who I coach can be inspired fairly easily, they’re highly motivated and it’s just a lot of fun for all of us,” explains Coach Wheeler. “They come to practice with a great attitude of wanting to be better and they work hard at it. The coaches are committed and dedicated. I’ve never witnessed anybody that seemed like they didn’t love being here.”
While he may not want the fanfare, Coach Wheeler has plenty to be proud of himself. His personal 44-year running career has carried him to over 700 races in 18 states, including six Boston Marathon races. He hopes to run his seventh Boston Marathon this October.
“I’ve done a lot of running, a lot of competing and I still love to do it. I’ve been blessed, I do not take it for granted,” he says.
Even with all of his achievements, his greatest honor is being called “Coach” and having the opportunity to build self-esteem and important skills into the lives of young people.
“I’ve had so many proud moments. It’s so exciting to see a kid come across the finish line beaming because he just ran the best time of his life,” reflects Coach Wheeler. “I get goosebumps just thinking about some of the experiences I’ve had through all these years of coaching. To me, it is such a privilege and an honor to be a coach.”
Drew Horter
Founder & CEO, Horter Investment Management,
Tactical Fund Advisors, HorterInvestment.com
Drew Horter has been in the financial services industry for nearly 40 years, but his focus has always been on more than money.
“What I have learned being in business as long as I have, is really that it’s not about money, it’s about impacting the lives of the people you work with,” shares Drew. “Whether they’re advisors, the advisors families or the clients.”
With a thirst for knowledge and a keen eye for seeing the pros and cons of the industry, Drew used his lessons from working for a large corporation and small planning firms to found Horter Investment Management in 1991. After the downturns of the early 2000s, it became clear to him that there was a better way to manage people’s portfolios that did not involve them losing large percentages of their investments.
“So that’s really when I started with the low risk, low volatility investment management philosophy. You are defensive in bad times and opportunistic in good times,” says Drew.
This was also the genesis of their Tactical Fund Advisors mutual fund family and the start of coaching, training and mentoring advisors to integrate tactical investment strategies into their portfolio work.
“Nationally, we work with advisors who follow the same type of investment philosophy with active daily management of a client's portfolio, so when bad things start to happen we have the goal to move them out of harm's way,” explains Drew.
Mentoring is also a key way Drew and the Horter Investment team pass on their knowledge so others can benefit. Starting and fostering the careers of hundreds of advisors is one of Drew’s proudest accomplishments.
“What we teach is take ‘you’ out of the equation. It’s all about the client. So you can put your head down at night and say, ‘I’m doing the absolute best for my clients regardless of my personal financial gain.’ It’s a giving mentality that is pervasive in our firm,” he shares.
That giving mentality extends into many other areas, including teaching local high school seniors and college students about financial services. Local schools throughout Cincinnati, including Mason High School and Moeller, have seen the value in giving young adults a glimpse into what investments are all about, as well as financial services as a career opportunity.
“The purpose is to open their eyes to the vast world of financial services, and to show them that they may have the acumen and the ability to love it as a passion and have it as a career,” explains Drew.
You can also draw a line from Drew’s commitment to impacting people's lives to his support of the Midland Baseball Organization. His own mentor, Joe Hayden Jr. founded the nationally recognized organization and Drew played for the inaugural team.
“I watched what he did, and the thousands of kids that played baseball with Midland. To see his passion for kids and people in general, probably precedes my desire to give and help kids and young adults,” shares Drew.
For him, it’s clear that his work is not simply about building wealth. He taps into the hopes and dreams of people he works with—clients, advisors and students—and does his best to make those long-term aspirations a reality.
Investment advisory services offered through Horter Investment Management, LLC, a SEC-Registered Investment Advisor. Horter Investment Management does not provide legal or tax advice. Investment Advisor Representatives of Horter Investment Management may only conduct business with residents of the states and jurisdictions in which they are properly registered or exempt from registration requirements. Insurance and annuity products are sold separately through Horter Financial Strategies. Securities transactions for Horter Investment Management clients are placed through E*TRADE Advisor Services, TD Ameritrade and Nationwide Advisory Solutions.
Don Williams
Retired LCNB National Bank Executive Vice President
Mary Haven Youth Center Advisory Board President
When Don Williams moved to Mason with his family as a grade schooler in 1951, it was a farming community of only 1200 people. They didn’t know anyone in the area, but Don was immediately struck by how nice everyone was.
“The kids I went to school with and became friends with, I am still friends with to this day, even though we’re a lot older now,” he shares. At the time, the entire school system, housed in what is now the Mason City Schools administration building, was only 400 students, grades K-12.
What was then the Village of Mason, initially grew with small businesses, many of which Don worked for while growing up. He would eventually go into banking where he stayed for 45 years, starting as a teller at the First Mason Bank, and rising through the ranks to become the bank’s president. He would go on to work for LCNB, where he retired after 17 years as executive vice president. Before he got into banking, he took a brief, but exciting detour: working for the FBI in Washington D.C.
“I was assigned to the Justice Building, and what I still remember to this day was delivering documents to the office of the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover,” Don reflects. He even had a special opportunity to chat with Director Hoover one-on-one before he returned to marry his wife Pat, another lifelong resident of Mason.
“I don’t regret choosing to come back because I learned a lot and had a very enjoyable job. I also met a huge amount of people and made a lot of good friends through banking,” he recalls.
Don’s time in Mason has also been defined by his dedication to civic engagement. From helping to found the original Mason Area Chamber in 1968 to serving on the Mason Village Council, Mason Planning Commission and Warren County School Board, he has seen Mason through incredible growth.
“When I was on council, we started the city income tax which really helped the city generate funds to provide the services that they can provide now. I still enjoy going to the council meetings and learning about what’s going on in the city,” shares Don.
He has also been a long-time member and leader of the Kiwanis Club of Mason, where he served as president in 1981 and 2004 and was a charter member of the Mason Scholarship Foundation.
“Kiwanis is a great civic organization, one of the better ones, right in line with the Chamber. We do a lot of things for youth, that’s what it geared towards,” he says.
One of the youth activities Don has always loved being part of is a yearly Kiwanis trip to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game with kids from the Warren County Mary Haven Youth Center, a residential treatment center for boys ages 12-18. This trip was his original connection to Mary Haven, where he has since served as the advisory board president for several years.
“To me, it’s been extremely gratifying. That’s another thing I’ve never regretted. I’ve met a lot of kids and seen a lot of situations,” shares Don. “It's nice to be able to do something for kids who have had such rough lives.”