Mark Knows It All

These past few months I have had the privilege of doing some supplemental singing with the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church choir. The director of Seraphim, my community chorus, is Director of Music at St. Patrick’s, and arranged for some of us individually and for the whole chorus to do some singing in this magnificent church. This year St. Patrick’s celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding. It is a big gothic old style Catholic Church located in Youngstown’s south side. In a city built on steel, the neighborhood was ethnic, blue collar and middle class. They even considered making it the Cathedral for the newly formed Diocese of Youngstown (a function it temporarily served when St. Columba’s Cathedral burned down in the early 1950’s). But the neighborhood has been in decline for years and years, and has been long considered classic inner-city surrounded by urban blight. But like several other old neighborhood Catholic churches in the area, the faithful who moved to the sub...

These past few months have seen an unprecedented attack on public employees. Never in my life have I seen anything quite like it. Salaries are being posted. Implied derogatory descriptions about benefits are in newspaper articles, blogs. I have even experienced some “critical” questions from acquaintances relating to my wife’s benefits, a teacher who has just completed her 33rd year of teaching. My son is also a public employee. He is the financial officer at the Board of Elections. When he took the job, I got many raised eyebrows from some folks along with some surprisingly smart ass comments that verged on insulting. His credentials were actually pulled by the local press. He has a Masters Degree in Accounting from the Ohio State Fisher School of Business after graduating from YSU with a degree in accounting and a 3.9 GPA. That’s the last we heard of that. Of course, nothing is said about the benefits and pay guaranteed by the government for the auto workers whos...

Last night we went to see the Easy Street Production of Forever Plaid. It was an encore performance from a few years ago. I saw it then and it worth going to see again.  Unfortunately, with Tim McGraw at the Covelli Center, Canfield High School's Senior Class Play, and the Boardman High School's  spectacular fundraiser featuring scenes from past Senior plays with the people who originally played the roles in high school….the Ford Recital Hall was only ½ full.  If you haven’t seen Forever Plaid, it runs for one more weekend .  GO AND SEE IT.  As always, you will see no better version anywhere as you will with Todd Hancock and company. The story deals with a vocal quartet called the Plaids killed on the way to a gig at the airport lounge by a school bus filled with parochial virgins in the early 1960’s. But the Plaids are given one more chance to give the performance of a lifetime before gaining permanent entrance to the afterlife, reali...

I have a friend who is currently recuperating from some back issues in a rehab center. He is close to 80 years old, but you would never know it to talk to him. I have known him for over 40 years, and he sounds and looks the same. He always has a smile; always has a good word: always ready for a laugh. Several months ago I was having some personal issues. He must have seen it in my face when out for dinner with some mutual friends, and on his own he asked me to pay him a visit just to sit and chat. We talked awhile. He was just what the doctor ordered. He told me all you have to know in life are God’s two great commandments. Love God. Love your neighbor. If you can do those two things, you will have lived a good life. How simple and to the point. Two simple rules that can make a difference! I am no great theologian. Being raised Catholic I thought there were many more rules than that; meatless Fridays, fast for three hours before communion, go to Catholic School or go to hell, don’t t...

By the time you read this, Prince William and Kate Middleton will have become man and wife in another “wedding of the century” at Westminster Abbey. All week long, cable news channels as well as channels like the History Channel, Lifetime, TLC, PBS, and Discovery have been running various specials relating to the royal wedding, including topics like Charles and Diana, the ghosts of Westminster Abbey, and what’s on the menu for the reception.  All of this being reported with gusto by questionable British reporters and American reporters who think it cute to say "cheerio"! All of this begs the question who cares! As Americans, we divested ourselves of the British monarchy in the late 1700’s with that American Revolution thing. Many of us try to act nonchalant about the whole thing. We cite the waste of money and the anachronistic nature of the Royals. We should have the problems those people have!!!! And that old lady Queen….what a puss!!! The British really ought to dump ...

Youngstown was at the heart of the American industrial revolution in the mid 1800’s. During World War I, more steel came from Youngstown than anywhere else in the world. It’s no wonder, then, that the area was home of some of the best of everything, including department stores. Strouss-Hirshberg and McKelvey’s were the Macy’s and Gimbels of northeast Ohio, and offered to local residents the best of what money could buy. Strouss will always hold a special place in the heart of this area. It is hard to believe that there are twenty somethings today that haven't heard of it, or go “huh?” when you mention it. I tried doing some research on its history. Believe it or not, it is hard to find. As near as I could figure, the Strouss Hirshberg Company was originally known as D. Theobald and Company. Isaac Strouss clerked there, and eventually bought the store in 1875 with his new partner Bernard Hirshberg. The store was incorporated in 1906. The Readers Digest version of the life of the ...

My Seraphim Chorus is doing a Summer of Love, Music of the 60’s concert in June. One of the concert selections is Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie’s folk song standard This Land Is Your Land. It is a boffo arrangement that elevates it more than a tad beyond some of the hokey versions many of us sang in our high school choir days. Sometimes a song has been performed badly for so long, to hear it done well is almost like a re-introduction. This is one of those songs. I was curious as to the song’s back story, so I did a little research. It was written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 as a backlash of sorts to Kate Smith’s version of God Bless America . He felt the Irving Berlin standard did not ring true to his vision of the spirit of America, and I suspect neither did Kate Smith. He put his lyrics to the tune of an old Baptist Gospel Hymn entitled Oh My Loving Brother and made famous by the 1930 Carter Family recording re-named When the World’s on Fire . You ...

April 12 marks the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War. 150 years ago, General Beauregard, commander of the Confederate forces in Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison located on an island just off the coast. When Major Robert Anderson refused, the Confederates opened fire on the military installation. Two days later, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederacy. The war had begun. I find it amazing that nowhere is this being reported, considered, talked about…whatever you want to call it. The Civil War is the single biggest event in the history of this country. It formed who we are today. In 1861, the population of the United States was 35 million. 24 million lived north of the Mason Dixon line. 9 million lived in the south. Of the 9 million who lived in the southern states, 4 million were slaves, leaving a white population of about 5 million people. The industrial capacity of the entire South was surpassed by the indust...

I am always amazed when life goes full circle. In my Youngstown Eats blog, I wrote that I had had contact with a gentleman named Howard from California who was originally from Youngstown. He said he was a graduate of YSU, and was putting together a reunion for his ZBT fraternity. On his web page, he was posting pictures of old restaurants and was wondering if I could get him one for the old 20th Century Restaurant on Belmont Avenue. He and I talked quite a bit, and I was successful in procuring him photographs with the help of a friend of mine. In conjunction with my trip down memory lane with Howard, I wrote a blog about old Youngstown restaurants which turned into one of the more popular things I had written. Get into the Wayback Machine with me and travel back to the mid 1960’s. My cousin Debbie, who was two years older than me, married a guy named Bob Turner when they were very young. Bob was a nice enough guy, and there was a big wedding on the way to happily ever after. Unfortuna...

We have a problem. I got home from work yesterday and found out that the United States had launched a Connecticut Military Operation. The television dude the reason they did this is that Congress would never approve a Declaration of War. I would hope not. What’s wrong with Connecticut? President Obama says that this operation is necessary to protect the civilian population. From whom do they need protecting? Supposedly its against the leader of the state. I looked it up. Her name is M. Jodi Rell. She must be pretty bad because even the Arab League is upset with her. Maybe she had snow removal issues this past winter. Or maybe they want her to wear a burqa. Gee, I hope she doesn’t get caught by any Egyptians. The Drudge Report said the army was given protesting women virginity tests. Yikes. I don’t think Obama is really into this Connecticut invasion. He is looking to hand it off to somebody else. I am guessing that New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island aren’t interested in taking ov...

I usually try to vary topics for the Mark Knows It All blog. I know I wrote a local arts column last week, which for people not from this area, and some that are, is probably B-O-R-I-N-G! But sometimes things just need to be said, and this is one of those of times. The Oakland Theater is among my favorite venues in the area for live theater. Its intimate space lends itself to smaller, edgier pieces. Many of them are controversial dealing with subjects that would make some feel uncomfortable. But the productions are ALWAYS top notch quality, well conceived and well produced. Some of the productions don’t appeal to me, and I don’t go to see them. But many do, and they just keep getting better and better. Those of us who enjoy theater are fortunate to have these kinds of offerings available to this area. Over the past two weekends, the Oakland hit a home run with its production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play by Doug Wright “I Am My Own Wife.” Not only was the Oakland s...

Tonight I experienced again why this is a great place to live. Stambaugh Auditorium, a local treasure in its own right, showed off its own masterpiece: the newly renovated 3600 plus pipes Skinner organ. The renovation literally was finished this morning, and a dry run free concert was offered by Organist Dr. Edward Moore, originally from Girard, and now a world renowned organist and professor at Catholic University of America. It was a stunner. Like most of you, my experience with organs has mostly been in churches. Those organs range from barely working old pipe organs, to newly installed new fangled pipe organs, to electric organs that sound like pipe organs. We semi listen to a church prelude, and then sing a couple of versus of Rock of Ages, with the pipes of the organ decoratively gracing the rear wall of the church balcony. That isn’t what this is. It was build in 1926 as an integral part of the newly constructed Stambaugh Auditorium. Pipes range from pencil thin to 32 feet tall....

My choir director teaches as an adjunct music professor at a local college. At a recent rehearsal, he told us a story about one of his students whose assignment was to read an article about music outreach. The young lady came across a magazine article about community choruses such as the one I sing in and my director directs!! In her comments about the article, the young lady opined that she would not want to be involved with one of those old people choruses. My director said he let the young lady know in no uncertain terms that her comments were inappropriate, and that sooner or later we all end up at the far end of life. He then listed the virtues of the old people’s chorus, the loyalty of the members, their work ethic, and their dedication…those things that sometimes seem lacking in the young folks of today. She should be so lucky to be involved with an old people’s chorus. But even with our director’s kind words, it still gave me pause, and brought a tear to my eye. When did I beco...

We bought our house 12 years ago from my ninety year old aunt as she entered the nursing home. It is a nice house; a three bedroom ranch. It was built in 1972, the year my wife and I were married, by my aunt who was then in her seventies, and her husband who was in his eighties. It was built by old people for old people, excuse me: senior people for senior people. It has no steps, except a very tiny one to get into the kitchen from the garage. It has an abundance of closet space, always a nice feature. We bought it because we thought we could grow "senior" in it over the years, and not have to move. The only problem was that the last improvement to the house was in 1972. So for the past 12 years, the house has been a work in progress as we got rid of the dial telephones, installed cable television, got rid of the 1951 oven that that was brought over from their previous house, and the companion refrigerator!!!! Replaced the roof! Replaced the kitchen counters! Upgraded the bat...

Riding high on the top of State of Ohio news is the pending bill in the state senate that would gut Ohio’s collective bargaining laws for public employees and neuter teacher unions. It is sponsored by Senator Shannon Jones from Springboro, Ohio. It has drawn the wrath of the Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the Ohio Public School Employees Union, and just about every other union that exists in the great State of Ohio. It is a dangerous bill with ramifications which will destroy education in Ohio. By way of full disclosure, both my wife and son are public employees. My wife is a teacher retiring at 35 years in 2013. My son is employed by the Mahoning County Board of Elections as its financial dude. If my remarks seem sympathetic to the cause, it’s not because I disagree with the basic premise of Governor Kasich's goals. It’s because I have seen with my own eyes what goes in the public sector. What they are contemplating in Columbus will not fix the probl...

This year’s Super Bowl commercial highlight was the Imported From Detroit; Chrysler’s two minute homage to the rebirth of the American auto indusrty. If you haven’t seen it, it is the embedded video at the top of the MKIA page. Starring Eminem, it takes us on a gritty tour of Detroit with the message saying the hardest steel is forged from the hottest fire. Given our own history in Youngstown, it was ultra appealing to me, even giving a serious tear to my eye. We get it! The question is does the rest of the nation? Detroit comes to us with a lot of baggage. Ford is experiencing resurgence with numerous top notch auto entries, and gets kudos for not needing a government bailout. It is a long way from “Fix Or Repair Daily” days. General Motors has a hit with the Cruze. The efficacy of the Volt has yet to be proven, but Buick is breaking out as a major brand, especially in China. For the first time in its history, GM has made more money overseas than in the United States. Chrysler is maki...

If you were born between the years 1946 and 1964, congratulations! You are a baby boomer just like me. There is some question as to whom coined the term. But popular consensus gives credit to one Sylvia Porter, who was a financial columnist with 40 million followers, who in 1951 wrote: "Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them into a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history." Well, there you are. Us members of the Baby Boom generation have been both blessed and cursed. Because of the demographic bulge in the population, most boomers faced a shortage of just about everything. For example, as the boomers entered grade school, there was a shortage of classrooms as well as a shortage of teachers and books. In what would be a nightmare to today’s education do-gooders, boomer class sizes usually ranged from 35 per class in public schools, to between 50-60 in a class in paroch...

My mother loved catalogues. In fact, she was addicted to them. Beginning in August, she would get stacks of catalogues delivered daily much to the chagrin of the post office. On a light day, she would get ten in the mail. I won’t tell you how many on a heavy day. And she would buy something from almost all of them, which in turn resulted in more catalogues sent to her. As she got older, I would stop to visit her and literally move the catalogues from her mail box to my car to my trash can at home. It was a little scary. I am not a catalogue shopper except for food. I love food. But what is delivered never matches what is pictured and very expensive. So I threw what few catalogues I got out…except for one. Tucked midst the naked, writhing bodies of Abercrombie and Fitch and the glitz of the Neiman Marcus Christmas was an innocuous little catalogue with a different print and paper quality. Sometimes it would even be in black and white. It came from the Vermont Country Store and rapidly b...