Neighborhood Voice Sept. 2012 issue

September 2012 • ne ighborhood-vo ice .com

What’s in a Name?Diane Nash, the well-known civil rights activist, says cable television’s USA Network stole her name.

Maxine Walker Giddings, 72, recently emailed me a link to a letter Nash posted on July 26. Both women are civil rights heroes I first heard speak last year at a free event at Case Western Reserve University.

Nash, 74, explains in her letter that the USA series, “Political Animals,” has a character portrayed by actress Vanessa Redgrave. Redgrave plays a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Her name? Diane Nash.

For Nash, the issue is the loss of truth not the race of Redgrave’s character. She said in her letter that she believes because people too often think fiction is fact, many will be confused about

Buckeye-Shaker • Central • East Cleveland • Fairfax • Glenville • Hough • Little Italy • University Circle

What I Did On Summer Vacation Page 4

In Honor of Labor Day:Microloans in Central Page 6

Feasting in Little Italy Page 9

Resident actors and others rehearse for the play “Inner Visions.” From left to right, they are Darnell Weaver, Laurel Greene, Brian Jenkins, Dr. Brian Moore, Barbara Anderson, Kim McNeary, Anita Simpkins and Farai Malianga. Seated in front are Gwen Garth, Natolie Davis and Margaret Caldwell. Photo by Jan Thrope.

Youth Pay Tribute to Neighborhood History

News from

HOUGH - Jan Thrope didn’t set out to write a photojournalism book about Cleveland’s neigh-borhoods. The process was jump-started when a boy she was tutoring was overcome by fear of his neighborhood. She traveled up and down streets trying to find the source of his fears.

She said, “I saw many hopeless and despairing sights that were hurting him. But looking closer I discovered residents whose visions are heal-ing the neighborhoods. They are vibrant, mo-tivated individuals who perform daily miracles that significantly improve the lives of the people in the community. ”

Her book, “Inner Visions: Grassroots Stories of Truth and Hope,” chronicles the journey of these innovative residents whose pain has fueled their passion to help others and, as a result, they’ve found their purpose.

When playwright, director, actor and drama teacher, Lauren Persons, read it, she knew it

From Activists to Actors:

Get Involved

PaGe 11

PerrY’S PerSPeCTIVeCommentary By East Cleveland’s M. LaVora Perry

continued on Page 10

Photos from around GUC


Children perform “A Tribute to Hough Riots” as part of Camp Culture, a five-week summer arts program through the Pentecostal Church of Christ at East 105th Street and Chester Avenue. The children and teen camp assistants from Glenville, Hough and East Cleveland researched the 1966 riots, painted backdrops replicating stores from the time, read poetry and sang as part of a showcase performance, said Director Rhonda Harrell. See video excerpts of the performance by clicking on the link to the Neighborhood Voice YouTube channel at www.neighborhood-voice.com. And read about how other children in the communities of Greater University Circle spent their summers on Page 4. Photo by M. LaVora Perry.


residents Perform in Play Opening This Month Win Passes to the

Opening of the New MOCA

The new Museum of Contemporary Art

Cleveland, at Mayfield Road and Euclid

Avenue, opens to the public on Oct. 8.

Be the first person to answer this

question correctly and you will receive

two tickets to the 1 p.m. public opening.

Be the first to enter the new museum!

What year was the

Museum of Contemporary

Art Cleveland founded?

Call us at 216-229-8769 or email

[email protected].

Congrats to our last trivia winner Sheila

Bellamy, of University Circle, who knew

The Children’s Museum is home to a

permanent exhibit on pedestrian, bike

and motor vehicle safety.

Scan this to like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, connect on LinkedIn and watch our videos on YouTube.

www.ne ighborhood-vo ice.com September 2012 3

Publisher Neighborhood Connections

EditorLila [email protected]

Writers/PhotographersM. LaVora [email protected]

Justin [email protected]

Graphic Design ConsultantJulie Heckman

Copy EditorLindsy Neer

ContributorsWesley Bacon, Akia Eubanks, Jessica Firing, Debra First, Lori Ingram, Mack Johnson, Sharde’ Lackey, Roger Mastroianni, Sherri Means, Katie Montgomery, Lauren Persons, Elaine Siggers, Gregory Smith, Jan Thrope, and the students from the Buckeye Area Development Corporation Youth Workforce Initiative.

A d d r e s s1990 Ford DriveCleveland, OH 44106

Phone216-229-8769

[email protected]

[email protected]

M i s s i o n Neighborhood Voice is a monthly community newspaper written by citizen journalists who live, work and play in Greater University Circle.

Submit your news, photos or announcements to [email protected]. All submissions must include your name, address and contact information. Not all submissions can be published.

Deadline for submissions: Sept. 19

Landscape of Greater University Circle atop the W.O. Walker Building at 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. PHOTO BY STEPHEN TRAVARCA

Printed on recycled paper

We want to hear from you. Write to us at 1990 Ford Dr., Cleveland, OH 44106 or email us at [email protected].

This month Neighborhood Voice celebrates its second anniversary. Since our launch in 2010, we’ve been telling the stories of everyday people doing extraordinary things in the communities of Greater University Circle.

People like Gwen Garth, who is working to build Harmony Park in Central. Or Lisa Davis and Alanda Sales from Buckeye, who are helping neighborhood children get to college. Or Mary Ostendorf from East Cleveland, who started a community garden on her street because she was tired of an empty lot.

Everyday people are using their talents to give back to their communities. And, as a small, grassroots newspaper, we remain committed to highlighting their work. We’re pleased to say that we’re now receiving more submissions than we can fit in the newspaper. So in honor of our second anniversary, we’re launching a weekly e-newsletter to be published each Wednesday starting this month.

Want to get the latest grassroots news and announcements from Greater University Circle right in your inbox? Log onto www.neighborhood-voice.com and subscribe to the NV e-newsletter.

Lila Mills, NV editor

Neighborhood Voice is a program of Neighborhood Connections.

L e t t e r f r o m t h e e d i t o r

Get Neighborhood Voice delivered to your home. Paid subscriptions available. Call 216-229-8769.

By Wesley Bacon as told to Lila Mills

UNIVerSITY CIrCLe - I have been a student at Cleveland School of the Arts since sixth grade studying the bass [a member of the violin family and typically the largest string instrument in an orchestra]. Initially I was a pianist, but they didn’t have the funds for a piano teacher.

The orchestra teacher looked at my hands and said, “You should play the bass.”

I said, “OK.”

It turns out I like the bass so much more. The bass teacher at Cleveland School of the Arts, Miss Dianna Richardson, she’s really good at

what she does. She led me in the direction to love the bass. And [that] led me to love music even more, to appreciate it even more. That’s the effect that she’s had on me. She’s been my teacher since sixth grade.

She kind of started pushing me [at the end of seventh grade to join the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra]. I didn’t know what that was. I thought the only orchestra we had was the one at school.

[The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is one of the best youth orchestras in the country and provides young music students with pre-pro-fessional training in a full symphony orchestra.

4 www.ne ighborhood-vo ice.com September 2012

NEIGHBORHOOD YOUTH Neighborhood Voice

I Traveled to europe with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra

cont. on Page 10

BUCKeYe - Each summer, the Buckeye Area Development Corporation runs an internship program for neighborhood youth called the Youth Workforce Initiative. The interns, who are mostly teens, do landscaping and other work in the community. They also attend workshops about a variety of topics including personal finance. This year the interns spent one day working with children at Fundamen-tals Daycare on Buckeye Road. Here’s what they wrote about that experience:

As a part of our commitment to the community, we showed the children the basic tools needed to have a successful community garden.

When we arrived at the Fundamentals Day-care, the kids were so excited and willing to

participate in our garden seminar. We passed out pictures of the type of things we would be planting in the garden.

The kids got hands-on experience pulling weeds, planting seeds, watering plants and layering mulch over their garden area. On top of the physical aspects of garden care, the children also learned about vegetables and the importance of working together.

We took a water break, and after that took some pictures on the Fundamentals play-ground. In addition to our garden seminar, we also taught children about basic life lessons. A boy and a girl at the center got into an argu-ment over a shovel, and we explained to them

We Taught Children about Gardening

By Justin Rutledge

GLeNVILLe - When summer winds down and camps close for the season, most children return home with bug bites and sun burns. The youth who participated in Dee Jay Doc Harrill’s FRESH Camp made a bit more of their sweltering sum-mer days. They walked away from camp with a finished CD of their original hip-hop music and new insight into their community.

The campers, about 21 in all, got to experience every step of the process that goes into pro-ducing a hip-hop CD during week-long camp sessions held at a house on East 105th Street.

“We learned how to scratch turn tables, make songs,” camper Angel Sheeley said.

But they also explored Glenville to get inspira-tion for their music.

“We had a lot of neighborhood exploration,” said Harrill, the camp’s founder and a Glenville

resident. “FRESH Camp helped them to reenvi-sion their surroundings.”

The campers took to the streets to get a glimpse of active people in the area — like local farm-ers. During one visit, the campers examined a number of grains. They looked at their sizes, shapes and smells and then recorded what they noticed. Harrill’s lesson? Refined grains are akin to popular hip-hip in that much of the flavor is stripped away, while whole grains in-clude every element of the plant.

The campers also learned about themselves and their skills.

“We would start making music and some would kind of just excel at it,” Harrill said about help-ing students find their strengths. “Some were better at writing lyrics and we just encouraged them to help other students who were strug-gling. One of the guys, Jamal, he made all of the beats.”

We Produced Our Own CD

A few neighbors from East Cleveland’s Page Avenue celebrate at a ceremony honoring some of the street’s

children who helped tend the Page Avenue community garden this summer. The youth, about 10 in all, kept journals about what they learned and then received a proclama-tion from the city and checks to spend on back-to-school supplies. Pictured from left are neighbors Mary Ostendorf, Makiya Gardner, 10, with her mother Mesha Collier and her sister Mecca Gardner, 13, and Dr. Patricia Blochowiak. See more photos from the event on the Neighborhood Voice Facebook page.

Rainey Institute students gather to unveil a new mural in their building on East 55th Street in

Hough. Students worked together painting tiles to form the mural. When asked, students said “it was like a puzzle” (Michael, 11) and that painting “felt good because I got to work with my friends” (Gabriele, 8). The mural took about two months to complete, with nearly 50 students involved. “They were painting after school, during Saturday classes [and] during their free time,” said teen counselor Ativa. Anthony, age 7, admited that “it was really fun” and that even after the mural was completed “we kept on painting.” Rainey provides after-school, weekend and summer arts education. For more information about the Institute, check out raineyinstitute.org. Caption and photo courtesy of Rainey intern Jessica Firing.

Wesley Bacon performs during the 2010-11 season in the Cleve-land Orchestra Youth Orchestra at Severance Hall. Photo by Roger Mastroianni courtesy of the Cleveland Orchestra.

cont. on Page 10

cont. on Page 10

We Had Fun!

We Painted a Mural

Finding Their Beauty Within

Buckeye-Shaker resident Joyce Pratt, who is also a social worker, started and led a workshop for girls called “The Beauty Within” this summer at the Woodhill Community Center. The girls included, from left, Regina Riggins, 9, Diamond Borland, 11, and fraternal twins Adia and Akia Eubanks, 12. “I learned some things from Ms. Pratt,” Diamond said. “We really talked about our feelings and how to react to our feelings.” Pratt plans to continue to meet with the girls and have them mentor others who take the workshop in the future. “I have grown very fond of these young ladies,” Pratt said. I’ve told them that “barriers can become strengths.” They are resilient and have already taken some of these barriers and turned them into strengths, Pratt said. For more information about the workshop, contact [email protected].

Neighborhood VoiceNEIGHBORHOOD FAITH


By Justin Rutledge

GLeNVILLe - Normally, when police cars fill the streets of Cleveland and the glow of their lights dances across nearby buildings, it is a sign that something tragic has just happened. When the police took to the streets of Glenville in mid-July, it was the sign of positive things to come. This time, the police were escorting residents taking part in a Stop the Violence parade.

The parade was organized by Pastor Andrew Clark of Trinity Outreach Ministries. Clark orga-nized similar parades this summer in the Buck-eye neighborhood and in Akron. He intends to do the same in other communities next sum-mer, including Collinwood and Mt. Pleasant.

“We have a message that we’re conveying to the community: that there is hope,” Clark said.

We have a “comprehensive urban renewal plan called the Recovery Seven Plan,” Clark contin-ued. “The [summer] Stop the Violence kick-offs were really the glitzy things that get the people out so we can share the [plan].”

The plan tackles issues of financial responsi-bility, healthy living and a host of other issues that plague the safety and well-being of many neighborhoods.

“Between now and the end of the year, our emphasis certainly will be on assisting pre-cinct leaders, developing street clubs wher-ever they are needed as well as offering our churches as meeting spaces and providing any personal services [people] might need,” Clark said.

There is also a plan to establish street teams and a pastor-on-call service to work with lo-cal police to aid in serving residents. Area churches are also working to adopt schools and utilize church spaces for after-school tu-toring sessions for students and parents in the neighborhood.

“This is something that churches should have been doing down through the years,” Clark said. Now “the church has actually responded to a territory that should not be foreign.”

Clark expects five churches to be operating in Glenville schools by the end of the year. The churches will send volunteers to each building to help however they can, which could mean being a hall monitor or helping to administer state tests.

The vision of Clark’s plan cannot be carried out by a single person or entity, he said. It requires churches, faith-based organizations and other groups to all chip in and help. Clark encourages residents who want to get involved to contact their church leaders and direct them to contact him at Trinity Outreach Ministries Church of God in Christ, 12002 Ashbury Road, or by call-ing 216-791-3337.

“The first step in reclaiming a neighborhood is getting out [into the neighborhood],” Clark said. “We need to get our neighbors out again walking these streets. This whole thing is about teamwork. It takes teamwork to make the dream work.”

Justin Rutledge is a Benedictine High School graduate with a journalism degree from Bowl-ing Green State University.

Finding a HeroBy Sherri Means

The cereal Wheaties has long been known as “The Breakfast of Champions.” It is packaged in that orange box with a photo of an athlete on the front.

When I was growing up, the box had the Olym-pic track and field star Bruce Jenner on the cover. As a child, I believed if I ate my Wheaties, I could grow strong and fierce because Wheat-ies was fuel for a growing body.

Every morning like clockwork, I grabbed my bowl and spoon and my box of Wheaties. I would pour my cereal and milk in the bowl and as I ate, I studied that box. I didn’t quite know what I was looking for, but I was intrigued by the possibilities.

I hung on to the belief that the more I ate my Wheaties, the more likely I could be whatever I wanted to be. I would eat two bowls just to make sure. That dream lasted throughout my childhood: Just pour another bowl and believe.

Here I am all grown up and standing in a place where I realize life happens and dreams don’t follow through the way a child believes they will. In the years since I studied that Wheaties box, I have lived with and survived decades in an abusive relationship. Now, I have started a nonprofit peer support group for others living with domestic violence.

It is here that I started thinking recently about those Wheaties and my quest for a champion to believe in. I realized that that champion is me: I need to believe in myself.

I remembered the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and the impact it had on me as a child. I didn’t care how many times it repeated itself on tele-

vision. I would always be excited to watch it even though I never grasped its true meaning.

As I analyze it from a mature perspective these many years later, it is perhaps one of the best message movies of all time. All the main characters believed they had to travel far to find what they needed whether it was a heart, some courage, a brain or a home.

I believe that movie was made for all the non-believers like me; all those struggling with hav-ing faith in themselves. While I found it easy to believe in everyone and everything else grow-ing up, I never considered the fact that I was a worthy hero until I realized the people I looked up to were just like me, just as human and just as fallible. The difference was they believed in who they were.

I have learned sometimes there is great work to be done on one’s self, journeys to be made and falls to take. Heroes aren’t born; they rise from disasters. That makes me a disaster I guess, but it also makes me my own unsung hero. So to all those struggling out there, I say: Find your hero!

Sherri Means is a Cleveland resident and co-founder of The UnderWings Project, a peer support group for victims of domestic violence. Visit www.theunderwingsproject.org for more information. Read more of her columns at www.neighborhood-voice.com/category/col-umns/sherri-means

Pounding the Pavement for Peace

Bucket ListA few years ago I started a “Bucket List.” You know, a list of all the things you would like to accomplish or all the places you would like to go before you are dismissed from your earthly vessel. Here are a few things that I would like to do: I want to go to Paris and to Spain. I want to visit Ireland, take a cruise, have my first novel published. You may have dreams and things that you would like to do before someone yells, “Time’s up!” Most of us do. Some of us are young, some of us have passed the middle or are quickly approaching it. So share with us, share your “Bucket List.”

Buckeye-Shaker’s Elaine Siggers asked this question on her blog www.truelifeexpressions.blogspot.com. Neighborhood Voice took to the streets with a video camera and asked residents to respond to Elaine’s post.

See what folks had to say at www.neighborhood-voice.com.

Express Yourself

Columnist Natalie Rudd is off this month.

NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILE Neighborhood Voice


Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation 8111 Quincy Ave., Suite 100Call 216-361-8400 for more information.

Fatima Family Center Computer Lab 6600 Lexington Ave. Call 216-391-0505 for more information.

Famicos Foundation 1325 Ansel Road Call 216-791-6476 ext. 229 to make an appointment. Appointments available through September.

Clyde Rahman Community Center 7401 Euclid Ave. Call 216-704-6131 for more information.

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CeNTrAL - The Economic and Community De-velopment Institute, based at 6701 Carnegie Ave., steps in to help potential or current busi-ness owners when banks cannot. The institute offers microloans that start at $500 and top out at $50,000.

The Cleveland Foundation awarded a $400,000 grant to ECDI, which started in Columbus in 2004, to launch its programming in Cleveland. Other partners in the Cleveland launch included the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and Huntington Bank.

“It truly takes a village to raise a small busi-ness as well,” said Eric Diamond, ECDI’s vice president, Cleveland market, at the institute’s launch event this summer.

Vonn Morgan knows that. She received a loan from the institute to help open Sir Barbershop and Lounge, a spa-like barbershop for men coming soon to East 185th Street.

“I think men need to be pampered,” Morgan said. “They need something really nice just for them.”

She had the idea for the business in December and ECDI helped her realize the dream.

“They were very helpful and they were very pa-tient with me,” Morgan said.

Entrepreneur Toni White hopes to work with ECDI soon. White started her small business, From Me To You, Sandwiches and More, after being laid off in 2009. She sells her homemade

sweet potato pies at The Lancer, 7804 Carnegie Ave., and Whitmore’s Barbe-cue, 15301 Kinsman Road. She also sells homemade sweet potato and pe-can pies and breakfast sandwiches at Civilization Coffee, 2366 W.11th St. in Tremont.

“Sometimes, difficult things bring out the best in us,” White said. “The love that I have for baking and cooking has resulted in the best pies and the most delicious breakfast sandwiches you’ll ever taste!”

Orders can be placed by calling 440-479-4801 or sending an email to [email protected].

Turn Your into a Business By Lila Mills

An innovative new organization that offers microloans to small business entrepreneurs opened its doors here this summer.

Big Idea

If you don’t qualify for a traditional bank loan, check out ECDI at www.ecdi.org or call 216-456-2675. Entrepreneurs at the ECDI launch in July. Photo courtesy of ECDI.


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NEIGHBORHOOD EDUCATION Neighborhood Voice


MAKING THe GrADe

A regular column by Timothy D. Goler

Public Schools as a Community Building AssetThe city of Cleveland and the Cleveland Metro-politan School District are looking to improve the quality of education here by seeking a big tax increase in November to carry out the dis-trict’s improvement plan.

This presents an exciting opportunity to pro-mote discussion about many fundamental is-sues: What is the purpose of public schooling? What is the connection between schooling and a person’s quality of life? What portion of a person’s education is the responsibility of the school? What other societal institutions bear educational responsibility?

These questions may sound too philosophi-cal to be of practical value. And yet when it comes to school levies, we see communities that choose to address these questions come up with qualitatively different approaches from communities that choose to avoid them.

Communities that have tackled these ques-tions have created innovative partnerships, leveraged additional sources of funding and developed multi-use school facilities that break down the walls between school life and com-

munity life. Communities that have overlooked or disregarded these questions have missed out and reinforced the feeling that public schools, and inner city schools especially, ex-ist outside, in some separate space, apart and away from the community that they serve. But instead, schools should exist in a context of an alive, beautiful array of families, relationships, cultures, hopes and love.

In many places, public schools are in, but not of, their surrounding neighborhoods. It can seem that neighborhood residents and stakeholders have ceded ownership of their most precious community asset to bureaucracies that have little inclination or capacity to look at larger qual-ity-of-life issues in the community. However, in Cleveland’s case, the mayor has ultimate gov-erning responsibility. And Mayor Frank Jackson is to be applauded for his work to dramatically improve the quality of life for all city citizens.

And now, the schools must serve as centers of the community and catalysts for neighbor-hood development. Just imagine: Spread out across the city of Cleveland, schools that serve as the center of the community. An investment in our children’s education is more than an in-vestment in Cleveland’s economic future. It is an investment in the very lifeblood and future of our local community. Why shouldn’t today’s schools be part of their neighborhood’s civic life, bringing together education, recreation and community service?

We must begin viewing schools as community assets that are intertwined with the economic heath of the community. If we do, Cleveland will be on track to become all that she aspires to become.

Timothy Goler is an educator and sociology doc-toral candidate at Case Western Reserve Univer-sity. Contact him at [email protected].

By Sharde` Lackey

GLeNVILLe - Denim blue jeans, white baseball cap and a T-shirt; blazing sun, sweat on the brow and hands guilty of work. Veronica Walton does not limit herself to just growing rich and healthy plants in her many garden plots across the city’s east side.

She shares her knowledge with any who are willing and ready to learn through a train-ing program connected with the Gateway105 Farmers’ Market. Not only do individuals learn about urban farming, they also learn “how to take food that was grown to market” and build-ing transferable job skills, Walton said.

Walton and her husband, Michael, previously worked with the Hitchcock Center for Women Inc., a halfway house in Glenville for women dealing with substance abuse issues. They were consultants for an urban farming program there that taught job skills and gave the women at Hitchcock something to do with their hands on their healing journey.

The next stop involved the Famicos Founda-tion’s Gateway105 Farmers’ Market. Now the Waltons have their very own training program through the market. They started with five stu-dents. All of those students completed the pro-

gram and are now placed successfully in a job, many related to urban farming.

Walton was careful to highlight Marquez Simp-son, one of the program’s first five students, who will be opening his own roadside mar-ket on East 79th Street and Superior Avenue. Through the program, he was employed at a butcher shop while preparing for this big leap as a 19-year-old entrepreneur.

Simpson said, “When I first started, I was inter-ested, but not really interested. But the more I found out about it, I started to like it more. I like the growing and the business piece, but I like the business piece more.”

When asked what inspires him to continue on this route, he smiled with a sense of accom-plishment and paused. The silence seemed to stop time as anticipation grew.

Finally he said simply, “It makes me proud but it also makes me want to change a little more and change my community. I want to have ev-eryone come together, but I just take it day by day.”

Sharde` Lackey is a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University and a former intern at Neighborhood Connections.

Learning to earn: Program Helps Young entrepreneur Open Market Stand

New Field Dedicated

It was with great pride that Benedictine High School dedicated its new football field, called Bossu Field, last month. All the Bossu family members were in attendance with their mom, Florence Bossu. Frank Bossu ‘67 addressed the crowd of more than 400, with memories of the great Augie Bossu, a legendary football and baseball coach at the all-boys school. Joe Bova ‘10 sang the National Anthem and Alma Mater. The football teams took to the field for practice with a luncheon served to the crowd. Caption and photo courtesy of Debra First of Benedictine High School.

reading Books on NooksChildren attending Fatima Family Center’s summer camp spent mornings improving their reading skills using Nook tablets bought with a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The children read classic story books and then played games to help reinforce reading skills. Counselors facilitated book discussions. The summer-long camp, which ended with a performance last month, also included swimming at Cleveland State University, field trips and more.

Photo by Lila Mills

NEIGHBORHOOD ARTS Neighborhood Voice


Neighborhood Spotlight:

Herb YoungArticle and Photo By Katie Montgomery

When Larchmere resident Herb Young, owner of Herb’s Quality Painting, brings his talents to bear on a project, magic can happen. At least that’s how Herb sees it.

“Painting is my specialty and my passion,” Young said. “I like the transformation process and restoring homes to their natural beauty.”

Business is booming at the painting, remodeling and handyman business Young started in 2007.

A native Clevelander, Young moved to Larch-mere with his fiancée and daughter about seven years ago.

“It’s the best move I could have made,” Young said. “The neighborhood is beautiful and the neighbors are lovely. In Larchmere, the commu-nity sticks together and supports each other. You don’t find that everywhere. To me, that’s part of what makes Larchmere such a special Cleve-land neighborhood.”

Young’s goodwill feelings for Larchmere show up in his work, too, making the neighborhood a priority for jobs on his list.

“Currently, 85 to 90 percent of my work is in our neighborhood,” he said.

One of Young’s favorite projects was painting the Cultural Exchange on Larchmere Boulevard.

“I really enjoyed the detail work in that project — working with multiple colors and bringing it to life.”

Young is happy to bring his artistic eye to your projects, as well, helping with color selection or adding special interior finishes.

“I really enjoy working with metallics, sponging and ragging — all of the faux finishes,” he said.

His favorite part of any job? Presenting the re-sults to his customers.

“Earlier this year, I finished painting a home for someone in the neighborhood,” he said. “When she saw the final product, she cried out of happi-ness. It really doesn’t get much better than that.”

For homeowners facing more serious issues, Herb is lead-certified by the EPA. His paperwork is on file with Shaker Square Area Development Corporation, making him a great candidate for any work you’re doing through the popular Curb Appeal and Model Block programs.

And when the snow flies this winter, keep Herb in mind for snowplowing. In fact, his business is rounded out with all types of handyman ser-vices. To learn more, or to ask Herb to bid on your next project, call 216-214-2010 or email [email protected].

Final note: If you happen to have a Victorian home that needs a full restoration, Herb would find that right up his alley!

Katie Montgomery is an active member of the Larchmere Community Association.

Feasting in Little ItalyI attended this year’s Feast of the Assumption with my eyes, ears and heart open. Here’s my perspective:

About 114 years ago, Italian immigrants carved out businesses and neighborly con-nections with each other in Cleveland’s Little Italy. They lived side by side in this small “grotto” or neighborhood in the huge city. They learned the new language from each other, yet settled down at home to speak to-gether in a native tongue.

Imagine that you lived in this cultural garden of rich heritage steeped in religious tradition. Then, imagine that you had a sick neighbor in this community. For years she had been in this village within a city. She was a girl here ... she got married here. Now her children and grandchildren are in the next room of her home as a procession winds through the neighborhood, celebrating the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus, into heaven. This assumption assures Catholic believers of God’s goodness, as he favors Mary with both body and soul in heaven.

The priest in the procession stops and prays for the sick woman inside. She cries tears of joy as her loving family stands on. Later that evening, after the somber procession has given way to celebration in the streets, you hear news of the woman’s passing. She had waited for the priest and the procession to come to her.

This is what the Feast of Assumption in Cleve-land’s 120-year-old Little Italy neighborhood is all about: tradition, faith, connection. Little Italy shared its special religious holiday with more than 100,000 visitors during a four-day span last month. The Feast always begins near Aug. 15, the day the Catholic Church has established to celebrate the doctrinal belief that Mary was assumed into heaven. Ac-cording to this belief, Jesus “ascended” into heaven by his own power, while Mary was given the gift of her body and soul in heaven by “assumption.”

The Feast takes all year to plan, with hundreds of volunteers. Food must be ordered and pre-pared to tradition. The Cleveland Police are there as security to control a steady influx of visitors. It is a grand affair, centered around and produced by the neighborhood Holy Ro-sary Catholic Church. The procession, the

A regular column by Lori Ingram

I N G r A M ’ S C I r C L e P O e T ’ S C O r N e rNeighborhood Voice regularly features local poets. Submit your poem to [email protected].


CloudsClouds are like people drifting awayas they please. They have differentnames with different meaningslike foreign countries do for newborn babies just unfolding.

Clouds. The saddest part is when they drift away. They may never come back.

~ Poem by Akia Eubanks, 12, who lives in the Woodhill Homes in the Buckeye-Shaker area.

So Close to Victory Part 1Sometimes, you miss out on what’s in store for youBecause you give up before it happens in lifeIf only you kept moving toward your goalYour goal could have become a realityYou are so close to victoryI know your goal seems like it’s far awayAnd the intensity has turned up on your goalBut don’t lose sight of your goalAll you have to do is hang in thereAnother few days, weeks or monthsYour breakthrough is around the cornerYou are so close to victoryDon’t get discouraged because you are not there yetIf you keep working hard on your goalAnything is possible in lifeYou are so close victoryEverything may be against you todayThe problems, bad situations and disappointmentsAnd they are staring you in the faceBut you can complete your goalYou are close to victoryNow is not the time to have doubts and fearsYou must see your goal out until the endJust imagine if you turn back to defeatYou will not get the victoryYou are close to victoryThe world is full of many peopleWho will never see their rewardBecause they gave up right before victoryDon’t let that be you, you can get thereYou are close to victory

~ Poem by Mack Johnson (Emjay), a poet living in University Circle

Cousins, representing the fifth generation of one family with a connection to Cleveland’s Little Italy, gather at the old family home on Random Road for the start of the annual Feast of the Assumption. Every year, about 100 cousins whose ancestors grew up in three houses on Random Road return to the neighborhood for the Feast. They are all related to Matriarch Angie Sanders, said cousins Jean Petrello and Quinta DiRocco-Tonschock.

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS Neighborhood Voice


her historic role and also confused about “the history of the civil rights movement.”

I emailed Nash suggesting that she turn her letter into a petition on Change.org—the website that ignited a nationwide outcry over young Trayvon Martin’s fatal shooting in Sanford, Fla.

Nash is asking people to email her if they agree with her position. She wants to spread the word about her cause. I’m asking you to please do so and to also urge her to start a Change.org petition.

Nash spoke at a fall 2011 Case Western Reserve University Social Justice Institute event. Giddings, who lived in Shaker Heights at the time, was there; I also attended with my family.

As a young college student, Giddings participated in civil rights protests that Nash and others led at Fisk University in Nashville. I wrote about Giddings’ experiences in December 2011’s Neighborhood Voice. You can read that article at tinyurl.com/cngqnzj.

Rhonda Williams, the Social Justice Institute’s founding director, first told me about Nash’s heroism last year. Nash’s ordeal with USA Network might seem trivial compared to the movement she led when she was in her 20s, but it reminds me that black history is constantly at risk.

For example, once, during the late 1980s, in my predominately white high school, a social studies teacher told us students, “Egypt isn’t in Africa.”

I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. So I raised my hand and said, “But Egypt IS in Africa.”

He replied matter-of-factly: “But, I mean, Egyptians aren’t as dark as, say, you.”

Bizarre but true.

Nash’s battle with “Political Animals” reminds me that even though our U.S. president is of African descent, we still have a long way to go before we gain all the rights this nation promises.

So we can’t just ignore symbolic slaps in the face like the one Nash is challenging, or let lies brush over truth the way my teacher brushed Egypt out of Africa.

Because if we pretend to see nothing, say nothing and do nothing, those who abuse power will steal our history, our stories, everything we have.

Please email Diane Nash — that small step could make a big difference. Her letter and email address — [email protected] — are posted on the Civil Rights Movement Veterans’ website, at www.crmvet.org/comm/nash1207.htm.

M. LaVora Perry lives in East Cleveland and authored “A History of the Civil Rights Movement,” Mason Crest Publishers, September 2012. Learn more at mlavoraperry.com/books. Rhonda Williams, a Case professor, provided Perry with advice about the book’s contents.

What’s in a Name?continued from Page 1

I Traveled to europe with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra continued from Page 4

Cavatelli Dinner, the rides and raffle, candlelit procession and fireworks are all sponsored by the church. This fundraiser benefits church parishioners who need scholarships for their children to acquire a Catholic education.

The local businesses also benefit as they pre-pare and sell their own specialties as well. So for four days, families that were raised in Little Italy travel back and bring their children and grandchildren to meet old neighbors. Many families fix the traditional dish of lupine beans to serve at home. Families pray together by buying candles and placing them around the shrine of the statue of Mary in the piazza at the church. The rosary is repeated and prayed daily at 6 p.m. The faithful are there to pray with newcomers and the disheartened.

As the Feast comes to an end, fireworks light up the night sky as cheers of glee emanate from the children below. A raffle is held and the winners eagerly gather their prizes. And it is over. Cleveland’s Little Italy has shared four days of heritage and tradition while brighten-ing our world.

Lori Ingram is an actress living in Cleveland.

Feasting in Little Italycontinued from Page 9

had to be an oral history play: “The stories were just too good. Their lives seemed to jump off the page, begging to be seen and heard.”

And the rest is, indeed, history. The script was written and many people from the book became cast members. Unlike most artistic ventures, this play had the author, playwright and actors in the same room at the same time. What could have been a touchy situation resulted in a dynamic collaboration. Suggestions were made, words were altered and a vision was shared. With the blessing of Lee Lazar, the executive director of Rainey Institute, the play “Inner Visions” will be performed at Rainey, 1705 E. 55th St..

Persons, who is directing the play, can’t wait.

“What an incredible privilege to work with a group of people who are committed to making Cleveland a better place,” she said. “I always loved Margaret Mead’s quote: ‘A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ Now I know what it really means.”

See “Inner Visions” at 2 or 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16. at rainey Institute, east 55th Street and Payne Avenue.

Performance is free, but reservations are required. Call 216-965-4721 or email

[email protected] to reserve seats. www.InnerVisionsofCleveland.org

From Activists to Actors: residents Perform in Play Opening This Monthcontinued from Page 1

Cleveland Orchestra musicians coach the 100 members of the youth orchestra.]

Miss Richardson prepared me. She introduced me to a couple members of The Cleveland Or-chestra; the main person was Charles Carleton. [Bassist Charles Carleton has been a member of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2001.] He listened to me play a couple times and he gave me strong criticism and it was good for me. So I auditioned and a month and a half later, I got an acceptance. I didn’t know how prestigious it was at the time so I got the acceptance and I really didn’t know what to do with it. When I told [Miss Richardson], she was more excited than I was. So I was like, “I guess this is a good thing.”

I try to practice two hours every day. [Being around other musicians] has helped a lot. Usually in academics, they say you want to keep people around you who are smarter than you. Well it’s the same thing in music: You want to keep peo-ple around you who are better than you. Being in an environment with so many great musicians inspires you to do better.

[This summer, the Youth Orchestra did its first international tour. About 75 students from 37 different Cleveland-area schools performed in Prague, Vienna and Salzburg.]

It was my first time traveling out of the country. In eighth grade, we toured Boston, but Europe is Europe. It’s really different from Boston. The ap-preciation that they had for us was [incredible].

In America, classical music isn’t valued as much as it should be. Classical music has had pretty much an impact on everybody. It influenced jazz, rag, which influenced R&B, soul, which gave birth to hip-hop.

Over in Europe after a performance, I swear, they clapped for half an hour. In America, they clap for you once and you get up and go home. There, they come up and talk to you. They know the music before they hear it.

[My favorite part of the trip was] just how nice the people were. The people were really genu-ine; they were really nice to us. Vienna was re-ally pretty urban; it was crowded at the time. The Euro Cup was going on. It was like the NBA Championship times 10. And then: Salzburg. It was simpler, but it was really beautiful. We were right by the mountains. Farmland, they had sheep everywhere.

In Prague, my friend ordered a piece of ham and he didn’t finish it. He was about to throw it away and this guy walked up to him and took the ham and started eating it. The guy was not homeless. He was a family man, had kids. I realized how much America wastes. My friend took a couple nibbles of that ham. It was an eye opener.

[When I go to college,] I’m going to minor in mu-sic, but I want to go into engineering.

Wesley Bacon, 17, attends the Cleveland School of the Arts in Glenville and lives with his mother LaTanya Bacon.

that just because you want something does not mean you are entitled to it. We helped show them the fundamentals of respect and sharing. After that, the two children took turns and shared the shovel in order to finish up their garden work.

Community development is an action, not just a concept, at BADC.

See a video of our work this summer on the Neighborhood Voice YouTube channel.

Angel shot all the videos and photos for the camp. Then when the campers had their re-lease party at the Gateway105 Farmers’ Mar-ket last month, she overcame her nerves, took center stage and seized the mic.

No child was an island in this whole process, Harrill said. They all came together to help produce the final product.

“They got the CD done,” Harrill said. “It’s got six songs on it. Four of them are songs from the kids.”

The other two feature the teachers putting their skills on display, but the beats on those tracks are still the product of one of the campers.

The disc is on sale at the FRESH Camp’s website, www.thefreshcamp.com. There are videos and songs from the camp available on the site as well. See photos from the release party at www.neighborhood-voice.com and the Neighborhood Voice Facebook page.

Justin Rutledge is a graduate of Benedictine High School with a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University.

We Taught Children about Gardening continued from Page 4

We Produced Our Own CD continued from Page 4

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many thanks to the participants in the

Buckeye Area Development Corporation Youth Workforce Initiative who wrote this article and those who served as guest editors for this month’s edition

of Neighborhood Voice. They read submissions and helped chose the articles that appear in this issue.

Guest editors were: Joi Green, 18; Helene Baker, 19; Daniel Siggers, 21; Terrance West, 17; Chris Bowman, 20;

Eric Soltau, 16; Alan Burgan, 18; Antonio Phillips, 19.

Notice of Public Hearing

The City of East Cleveland Department of Community Development will hold a Needs Assessments Public Hearing to receive resi-dents, council and interested stakeholders in-put and comments concerning the proposed uses and overall priorities for FY 2013 One Year Action Plan for Community Development Block Grant and HOME Funds.

East Cleveland residents are encouraged to attend.

When: Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012

Time: 6 p.m.

Where: The Helen S. Brown Center16100 Euclid Ave.East Cleveland, 44112

Gary A. Norton Jr., mayor

Joseph C. Mazzola, director Department of Community Development

City CouncilDr. Joy Jordan, presidentChantelle C. Lewis, vice presidentMansell Baker, memberNathaniel Martin, memberBarbara Thomas, member

14340 Euclid Ave., East Cleveland, Ohio 44112Website: www.eastcleveland.org216-681-2208 Office216-681-2650 Fax

Clyde Rahman Community Center’s Fundraiser

Global Entertainment and The Clyde Rahman Community Center present “The Spirit of Hu-manity” featuring Humble G & The Afripeans at 7 p.m. on September 7 in Euclid Square Mall, located at 100 Euclid Square Mall off of Babbitt Road in Euclid.

Global Entertainment is the award-winning entertainment group that wows crowds with their trademark Afripean music (African drums combined with European strings).

The Clyde Rahman Community Center, 7401 Euclid Ave., was established on July 1, 2009 by a group of community-minded individuals

as a tribute to Imam Clyde Rahman’s work. Imam Clyde Rahman was a religious leader whose motivational lectures and work was based on the concept of education, com-munity mindedness and collaboration. The center is open to all and offers a variety of classes. You can show your support by pur-chasing tickets, booth space, and or giving donations. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $25 or in advance for $20 and booth space is $125. Check out [email protected] or call Gwen Hinton, executive director, at 216-704-6131.

East Cleveland Grows Community Garden

Invites You To Our Summer Harvest Festival on Saturday, September 8, 2012 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. * Rain or Shine *

(Corner of Coit Road & Dover – across from Coit Road Farmers Market) Sample garden grown food ** African Drumming **

Spoken word ** Music ** Garden Tour ** Ongoing mini- garden workshops ** See the benefits of urban gardening……. Come and see how urban gardens can add vitality to a community!! African drumming workshop for children! For more information, contact Gladys Walcott at 681-8535.

Glenville Senior Citizens Fishing Day

The Third Annual Glenville Senior Citizens Family Fishing Day is from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Rockefeller Lagoon located in Rockefeller Park at East 105th Street & Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. We invite all senior citizens and their family members to come for a fun-filled day of fishing, food and entertainment for all. All registered seniors with children from the ages of 6-13 years old will receive a free fishing rod and reel. The children will have to attend an Aquatic Education Class to keep the fishing pole. All classes are taught by The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Divi-sion of Wildlife Certified Aquatic Education instructors. The fishing rods and reels, some tackle and educational materials are supplied

by the O.D.N.R., Division of Wildlife through the ‘Step Outside” grant program.

This event is totally FREE, all equipment needed for fishing including bait is provided for all who attend and you get to keep the fish you catch (except for any size species of Bass). Visit our Resource Village, attended booths with senior and community resource materials. Representatives from AARP/Ohio, Cleveland Office on Aging, Community Polic-ing Unit, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, ESOP and the Mayor’s Office will be on site. Senior transportation is available for Glenville neighborhood residents. Contact Councilman Jeff Johnson’s Ward 8 office for details at 216-664-4231. Advance registration is rec-ommended. Call 216-258-5652 to register. Rain or shine, the event will take place.

Speakers and Writers Showcase

The SPAA, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring, challenging & educat-ing business, communities & more is bring-ing the free “Speakers & Writers Showcase” to Shaker Heights at 11 a.m. on Sept. 22 at the Shaker Heights Public Library, 16500 Van Aken Blvd. Learn how to write a book in 90 days and more. Please RSVP to 1-866-990-6772 or at www.thespaa.org.

Break a World Record

Join America SCORES Cleveland in our na-tionwide attempt to break a Guinness World Record on Sept. 29, and receive a free Pepsi soccer ball and event T-shirt! Register before September 1 for only $15 ($20 after Sept. 1) to be guaranteed a ball and a shirt in your size. Children ages 7 and under are free.

America SCORES Cleveland joins nine America SCORES cities to beat the Guinness World Record for the most soccer balls ever dribbled by a group at one time. Ten cities are on a mission to dribble 2,500 soccer balls simultaneously. For more information, contact Alissa O’Neill at [email protected] or check out www.americascores.org/soccerdribble/cleveland

GET INVoLVED: Community Meeting Schedule

Cleveland Police, 3rd District Community Safety Meeting: Last Tuesday of the month. Meeting location rotates. Call 216-623-5305 or 216-664-3290 for more information.

Cleveland Police, 4th District Community Safety Meeting: Fourth Wednesday of the month at Covenant Community Church, 3342 E. 119th St. Call 216-664-3290 for more information.

Cleveland Police, 5th District Community Safety Meeting: At 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at Five Points Community Center, 813 E. 152nd St. Call 216-664-2277 for more information.

East Cleveland Council Meeting: At 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave. Call 216-310-9512 for more information.

Ward Meetings

Ward 4: At 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at 11802 Buckeye Rd.

Ward 5: At noon on the second Saturday of the month at Vocational Guidance Services build-ing, 2239 E. 55th St.

Ward 6: At 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month. Call 216-791-6285 for more information including location.

Ward 7: At 6 p.m. on the second Friday of the month. Call 216-361-6186 or 216-664-2908 for more information including location.

Ward 8: At 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. Call 216-832-2249 for more informa-tion including location.

Ward 9: Every Thursday from 5- 6:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Public Library, Glenville branch, 11900 St. Clair Ave.

Cleveland Stonewall Democrats: Meet at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month at the AIDS Task Force, 3210 Euclid Ave. www.clevelandstonewalldemocrats.org for more information.

NEIGHBORHOOD ANNOUNCEMENTS Neighborhood Voice


To place a community announcement, contact 216-229-8769 or go to www.neighborhood-voice.com/calendar.

Medical Supplies and Equipment - Cheap!

Much more. Cash only. Call 216-561-0322 or 216-481-0846.

Delicious Sandwiches and Pies Find our sandwiches and pies at The Lancer and Whitmore’s or call us and place your personal order. Breakfast sandwiches delivered.

Call toni White at 440-479-4801 or email [email protected].

Tub bench $40 Adult briefs $25/case

Bibs, washable, new $5 Bedside commode $20

Walkers, new $20 Shampoo/body wash $1/bottle

Mouth swabs $10/box Gloves, not latex, 100-count box $5

UHhospitals.org/Quality1-866-uh4-care 1-866-844 -2273

Among the nation’s leading academic medical centers, University Hospitals Case Medical Center is the primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a nationally recognized leader in medical research and education.

And once again ranked among the best hospitals in the country. --U.S.News & World Report

Named the #1 national leader in quality. --American Hospital Association-McKesson

At university hospitals, we’re dedicated to providing the most advanced

medicine and the highest-quality care to our patients, their families and our

community. It’s a commitment that has attracted the attention of national

health care experts, including U.S.News & World Report.

Cancer

Cardiology & Heart Surgery

Diabetes & Endocrinology

Ear, Nose & Throat

Gastroenterology

Geriatrics

Gynecology

Nephrology

Neurology & Neurosurgery

Orthopedics

Pulmonology

Urology

University HOsPitALs CAse MediCAL Center

University HOsPitALs rAinbOw bAbies & CHiLdren’s HOsPitAL

Cancer

Cardiology & Heart Surgery

Diabetes & Endocrinology

Gastroenterology

Neonatology

Nephrology

Neurology & Neurosurgery

Orthopedics

Pulmonology

Urology

At university hospitals, our mission is you.

Learn more about our national recognition and our commitment to

high-quality, patient-focused care at uhhospitals.org/Quality.

UH Case Medical Center is among the nation’s best hospitals, ranked in all 12 methodology-ranked specialties.

UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties for the second consecutive year.

Documents

Neighborhood Voice Sept. 2012 issue