Forget the cake, I'm here for the cookies

It was actually a line item in the contract with my wedding hall vendor - a table for cookies had to be provided. I can't imagine a wedding in Youngstown without one. Friends from around the country are in awe by this tradition, but it's expected, if not demanded, in Youngstown.

My wedding closed out with close to 250 dozen cookies. Do the math. The saddest part was that I have no idea where the leftovers went. I'm guessing the wait staff enjoyed homemade treats for days, if not weeks.

(The photo is the only evidence of my cookie table that I can find. Being a firefighter, the groom's cake was a hit as well.)

The New York Times has all the news on cookie tables that's fit to print, except to say it gets it wrong on the origin of the cookie table. Pittsburgh has nothing on Youngstown and I said so three years ago. Those out-of-towners who have no idea what I am talking about need to read the article below.

* The Wedding? I’m Here for the Cookies (New York Times. December 15, 2009)

A lion of the North Side

When you talk of great Youngstown patriarchs, John Manning's name is at the top of the list. Northsider's knew the Manning's and Lowry's as probably the largest Catholic families ever to run the halls of St. Ed's, Ursuline and Rayen. Many people I met, when looking at me, would ask, "Are you a Manning?" When I replied 'No, a Lowry,' the comment back usually ended with, 'same thing'. Mr. Manning passed away Friday evening after a brief illness. It was an honor to have known him and an even greater honor to consider several of his grandchildren among my closest friends.


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John P. Manning Sr.

YOUNGSTOWN – John P. Manning Sr. returned to the Lord on Dec. 11. 2009.

He was born on Sept. 3, 1920, in Youngstown. His parents, Michael Manning and Mary Gilmore, were Irish immigrants from County Galway and County Mayo respectively.

From 1926 to 1935, he attended St. Edward’s School in Youngstown where he completed his grade school education. He spent his high school years at The Rayen School, graduating in 1939.

While at Rayen, Mr. Manning was in a number of activities. He played football, earning two letters. He was the basketball manager from 1938 to 1939. He competed in track and was on the intramural basketball team. While in high school, he worked at McKelvey’s department store on the delivery truck.

After graduation, John worked in shipping at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube, Cold Strip Plant, until the end of 1941. In January of 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served until his discharge in February of 1946. He served stateside, assigned to anti-aircraft and light tank detail. Early in 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Theater, where he served in the Amphibian Tractor Battalion in the Philippines and Japan.

While stationed in Osaka, he played football as center for the I Corp Headquarters in Osaka Stadium against the 33rd Division. It was the first American football game ever in Japan. While in Japan he served as water commissioner for the government in Japan and taught math to American soldiers.

After the military, John came home to Youngstown where he attended Youngstown State while working at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. He enrolled at Ohio University in September of 1946 and graduated in 1949 with a B.S.C. Degree. While at OU, he made the Inter-fraternity All-Star Team as a center. In 1950, he attended graduate school at Youngstown State, in Business Administration, and majored in five subjects: Accounting, Math, Economics, Business and Finance.

Mr. Manning started his employment at the Koppers Company in February 1950. He was their office manager for 31 years. He handled all traffic, accounts payable, accounts receivable, inventories, and all union negotiations. John retired in May of 1981. He also worked many years for the diocese of Youngstown as an accountant.

John Manning was very active in our community. The following is a list of the many organizations and fundraising drives he has served on: Hospice of Youngstown, St. Edward School fund for Ursuline & Mooney, Ursuline High Boosters, Ursuline High School Nick Johnson Committee, Mill Creek Child Care Center, Youngstown Traffic Club, Chesterton Club, SCORE of Youngstown State, Stambaugh Pillars, Sierra Club of Youngstown, Manning Investment Company, Doris Burdman Home, Mill Creek Child Development Center, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Ursuline Sisters Solo Deo Club, St Edward Mission Club, St Edward PTA, Northside Citizens Coalition, Oblate Sisters Cinquata Club, District XI on Aging, Goodwill Industries, Mahoning Transitional Homes, Newman Club Member, Chairman of Inter -fraternity Greek Week Affair, Jewish Community Center, Youngstown St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, Mahoning Valley Gaelic Society Charter Member. He worked on many area fundraising drives, to name a few, Youngstown Public Libraries, United Way, Youngstown Cancer Drive, Diabetes Drive for Northside Hospital, Gilliagans Campaign for Governor, White House on Education for Ohio, and Ursuline Capital Campaign.

He was also an avid Notre Dame and YSU fan.

He was made an honorary alumni of Ursuline High School in 1998.

John Manning married Kathleen Reagan on Sept. 16, 1950. She passed away July 23, 1991 after 41 years of marriage.

He is survived by five sons; Michael (Linda) of Liberty, Fr. Patrick of Walsh University in Canton, Thomas (Alice) of Youngstown, Edgar (Shirley) of Boardman and Liam (Nicole) of Raleigh, N.C.; four daughters, Kathleen (James) Zidian of Boardman, Marian (Mark) Acerra of Girard, Margaret Bishop of Mathews, N.C., and Martina (Dominic) Marzano of Struthers.

He also leaves his beloved grandchildren of whom he was so proud, Meredyth Ray, Jessica McKenna, Dylan and Zachary Acerra, Patrick, Thomas and Meaghan Manning, Katie Taylor, Gregory Thompson, Elliot and Liam Bishop, Kellie, Colleen, Erin, Mikayala and Sean Manning; three great-grandchildren, Madison, Oliva and Will; and one sister, Claire Nissen

In 1998, he took the entire Manning clan to visit their ancestral home in Ireland.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 41 years, Kathleen Anne Reagan; as well as a daughter, Colleen Anne; and a grandson, Sean; a sister, Helen; and two brothers Edward and William.

Calling hours will be Monday at St. Edward The Confessor Catholic Church from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Most Rev. George V. Murry, S.J., D.D., Ph. D., will preside at the Funeral liturgy at St Edward Church at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions take the form of donations to the Hospice of The Valley, The Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown, or Ursuline High School.

McVean, Hughes & McClurkin Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

Steel Town 1944

The visuals are stunning. Stacks spewing clouds of smoke into the sky, nearly obscuring the Home Savings & Loan building while men and women, all wearing hats, jump on and off busses at street level. Rivers of molten ore running down chutes to create the ships, tanks or guns that in peacetime would be office buildings. In Youngstown we make steel. We make steel and talk steel.

A World War II -era film created by the Office of War Information, 'Steel Town 1944' offers an incredible glimpse into Youngstown's past. My hope with this blog was to continue to spread Youngstown's rich past while highlighting some of the remarkable things going on to rebuild. For those who lived in the steel boom years of Youngstown's past, in the words of Doc Graham, "The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces."

Some interesting points to watch out for:

• 6:36 - Hooking up the hoist to a bucket of molten iron
  
• 7:30 - The 1944 Wilson-South football game at South High.
• 7:59 - South High School principal's office, classroom and cafeteria
  
• 10:05 - A Youngstown Symphony Orchestra made up entirely of steelworkers and their wives, rehearsing a piece written by Gerald Marovich, a Youngstown-native in the Navy

Not to give the ending away, but this closing quote is a classic:

"When the war is over, we're going to have other problems. We know about that in Youngstown. We've had it here before. There are times when there is no smoke in the sky and mills were quiet. The streets full of men, angry, questioning, wondering. We're beginning to understand that these things don't just happen in one place. They happen everywhere."

Happy Birthday, Youngstown!

It was on this date in 1868 that Youngstown became a city. If you see her today, be sure to wish Youngstown a happy 139th birthday!

The people that keep us going

While I haven't seen it yet, what sounds like a great exhibit opens today at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor entitled "Working Ohio/Working Youngstown" and features the photos and words of firefighers, steelworkers, lab technicians, and janitors, the working men and women of Northeast Ohio. The exhibit is sponsored by Center for Working-Class Studies and the journalism program at Youngstown State University.

The exhibit started as a journalism project in Assistant Professor Alyssa Lenhoff's advanced journalism class, where students were tasked with capturing the experience and perspective of workers. According to Dr. Sherry Linkon, Co-Director of the Center for Working-Class Studies, the exhibit is exciting because it brings students into the process of redevelopment within Northeast Ohio. Projects like this "engage our students in the community, and for journalism students, it helps them learn that "news" is not only about the most visible, important members of the community but about everyone," said Linkon.

Linkon hopes that the project can help all of us get a sense of how work is shaping the Mahoning Valley today. "After the mills closed and as the auto industry declines, our shared identity as a community of industrial workers has faded, and we don't know what to replace that with. People ask me all the time, "what do people do there now?""

Here's what we do: we teach school, we run medical tests, we staff retail stores, we make high-tech materials and dance clothes, we work in offices, and much more. We work, largely in the service industry, many in locally or regionally-owned small and mid-sized businesses. Many of us work multiple part-time jobs, while some are building careers in fields that go almost unnoticed."

In addition to student photos, the exhibit features the work of Cleveland-area photographer Steve Cagan. If you are interested, the show runs through May 4 and admission is free. If you can catch it, a reception and gallery talk will be held at 7 p.m. tonight.

View Steve's online gallery of images from the show here.

Oddfellows Local 151

In Pittsburgh, a divorce court withheld decision last week in the case of Gladys Johnson, who protested that when Lewis J. Johnson, U. S. marine, came home in his uniform and asked her to elope with him to Youngstown, Ohio, she had done so without recognizing Mr. Johnson as her father's brother.

Time magazine Monday, May. 16, 1927

(I like the comments that I receive from people who don't check out the year on some of these posts.)

Jeannette furnace resumes production

Washington Post - May 17, 1936
Youngstown, Ohio, May 16 (AP) -- The Jeannette Blast Furnace of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. today resumed production after being idle for five years.

Some history of Jennie:

Built in 1917-1918 at a cost of $3 million, it was one of three blast furnaces in operation at the plant, then owned by the Brier Hill Steel Company. It was "blown in" or lighted on September 20, 1918 by its namesake, Mary Jeanette Thomas, daughter of W.A. Thomas, who was the President of Brier Hill Steel. The furnace was 90 feet tall and weighed 500 tons. It produced more than 11 million tons of steel in its lifetime, and is said to have produced 34,356 tons of pig iron in one month during the early years of iron production. Brier Hill Steel was purchased by YS&T in 1923. The Jeanette furnace went out of blast in September of 1977 when the Brier Hill Plant was shut down. It was one of the oldest blast furnaces in the United States, and the last of its kind in Youngstown.

The Jeanette furnace was torn down at 11:37 a.m. on Wednesday, January 29, 1997 to clear the 62-acre brownfield for use as an industrial park. Musician Bruce Springsteen refers to the Jeanette in the lyrics of his song "Youngstown," a melancholy musical tribute to the steelworkers of the Mahoning Valley.

Source: Youngstown Public Library

"Tell your neighbors it came from Haber's"

East Federal Street, 1960's. This will be part of an upcoming DVD on downtown Youngstown in the 1960s. Write to info@metromonthly.net for more information.


Music: "Afro-Harping" by Detroit jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby

Youngstown boy shot in chest, remove bullet from the leg

In Youngstown last week a playmate accidentally shot Harry Besharre, 13. in the chest, directly over the heart. When Harry reached the hospital he complained less of the pain in his chest than of a gripe in his left groin. X-rays showed a strange accident. The 22-calibre bullet which struck the boy's heart was in the main artery of his left leg. It had traveled there, surmised surgeons, by piercing the heart and entering the left auricle. Contraction of the heart pushed the small lead pellet into the left ventricle, whence further pulsation drove it into the aorta, main feeder of the arterial system.

There is where the boy, having survived the puncture of his heart, ran his second greatest risk. One branch of the aorta goes to the head and brain. The other branch goes to the trunk and limbs. Had the bullet been carried by the flowing blood and pulsing artery up toward the brain, it would quickly have plugged some small bore artery, caused quick death. Instead, the pellet turned downward, worked into the left iliac artery, then the left femoral. Surgeons last week left it there, hoping it would work further down the leg where its removal would be less risky to Harry Besharre's life.

Source: Time Magazine, Monday, Jan. 11, 1932, link here

Winter Wonderland

I would like to say that I can take credit for these photos, but I found them at DowntownYoungstown.com who took them from The Vindicator. The State Theatre, the Paramount Theatre and today's Draught House (the Singer Sewing Machine shop) are all visible.

New links

I added three new links to the Links section on the right.

1. The Rayen School, Class of 1955 - They have a great website with a lot of local school history.
2. Whatever Happened to Idora Park? - This site has excellent photos of the old park, including several I had never seen before. Even though I was five when the park closed, I have a few memories of the park. My dad was also the manager of the famous French Fry Stand for a few years.
3. The Center for Working-Class Studies - The CWCS at YSU was the first center of its kind in the United States devoted to the study of working-class life and culture.

All are worth checking out if you have the time.