WHS Athletic Hall-of-Fame Brunch

Yesterday morning the HOF Committee wrapped up this year's ceremonies honoring the 2008 Class at a brunch and presentation of plagues. There were nine inductees from the Senior Era and nine from the Modern Era. They had the biggest turn-out in the history of this event. I estimated the crowd to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 people.

Reporter Jen Matsick of the ER has a very good write-up of the event in today's paper. They are doing a two part series to get all of the story done. Today's article was mostly covering the members of the Senior Era. The next will cover the Modern Era. So, I won't go into as much detail that Jen covered. It's available on-line and photographer Wayne Maris was there. There will probably a slew of pictures in their CU Gallery.

The oldest athlete honored was Georgia Weekley Kraus from the class of '25 for girl's basketball. The youngest honored were three members of the class of '96 which was Kelly Martin, Ryan Nightingale & Sean Wright. Georgia's scoring record of 240 points held until it was broken in 1983 by another girl.

This was the fourth class inducted into the HOF and I must say I was impressed with the event. It was a first for me to witness but it seemed that it was professionally organized and presented. The program was outstanding and the sign pictured above was top notch. Wonder if Jeff Campbell had anything to do with those banners? I know, or know of, most of the members of the committee and I don't think any of them had a career in setting up events like this. You folks certainly deserve a pat on the back and a "job well done" for your efforts. There's no doubt that a lot hard work and time went into getting it done.

Before closing I would like to mention the "best dressed" individual that I saw yesterday. I've seen the outfit before but it was the first time I've seen it up close & personal. John Henry, you certainly extol the virtues of school spirit. You were absolutely splendidious with that suit & shoes!

Thanks to the all that were responsible getting this event going. You proved once again that Wellsville is certainly a nice place to live. You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge.

And thanks for having me...

ole nib

Alley Cat Aid Brigade

Last evening at Dalonzo's Restaurant the ladies of the Wellsville's Alley Cat Aid Brigade (ACAB) held a fund raiser for the program. For more information on the program you can go to their web cite at http://www.alleycataidbrigade.com/.

Member Connie Carmichael said they have done about 40 feral cats so far. Nick Dalonzo told me they estimated they had about 55 people attend last night's dinner and Chinese auction. It was a nice turn out for this worthwhile project that helps make the ville a little nicer place to live'

Above are some pictures of the event we got.

ole nib

Bare Feet In The Park

While they were doctoring the new tree that got ran over not too long ago I caught this young lady attending to the task sans any thing on her feet yesterday. Turns out she didn't want to get her sandals wet while watering.

Pictured above is the ville's Susie Haugh, a newly appointed member of the Shade Tree Commission. Pictured with Susie is husband Jeff and Mary Ann & Sid Cannon.

Sorry Susie. Just couldn't resist!

ole nib

Getting Started

Yesterday they got started laying some block for the new Broadway Park stone walks. Pictured above is a couple of fellows from Monigold Landscaping of Steubenville leveling off the sand for the first one. There will be a walk on both sides of each fountain when they get it completed.

Also pictured above is one of the memorial stones that will be incorporated in the walks.

ole nib

War Zone

No, it's not a war zone but sure does look like a mine field gone awry. Actually it's Wellsville's Broadway Park. The mounds of dirt and debris shown in this picture is from digging for the new stone walks. The concrete is from older sidewalks that they found buried under the dirt. This is after they thought they had already removed the old walks. I was told they are going to use the dirt to level off some of the low spots in the park. For right now this is what Broadway looks like from one end to the other. It's a small price to pay for what it will look like after the work is completed. I think it will be a Wellsville show place and another plus for the ville.

ole nib

WHS Tigers Now 2 & 0

The Tigers opened tonight for the first home game of the '08 football season. The Tigers were battling the Toronto Red Knights. Everyone else in the stadium was fighting off the gnats. They were thick but you'll get that on a hot August night with high humidity.

The Tigers won the game. Think the final was 46-14 and that was impressive to me. Toronto is always a tough game. Being an arch rival you never know what is going to happen when they start butting heads. Since I didn't stick around too long I'll let you get a better account of the game from the morning papers tomorrow.

By the time I got home and dialed up WKMX Live on the 'puter the game was well in hand. The announcers did mention something about the Tigers regrouping at half time.

Prior to the game they had the induction of this years class to the WHS Atheletic Hall-of-Fame. Pictured above is this years honorees. That's young "Pick" Rolley standing in front. The next picture is of the Tigers getting ready to take the field. WKMX live was there and that's the announcers calling the game. Terry Brown said those guys are getting like old pros. Terry got the audio up to snuff and they sounded really good. That's Joe Surace, Roger Miller & Bud Ceniviva in the booth. The last picture is of the Tigers in action early in the 1st quarter.

It was a beautiful night for a game. Next time I'll lather down with bug-off before I leave home. Congratulations to the Tigers and the coaching staff on an impressive victory. Next Friday they travel to Lisbon. WKMX Live will be there if you can't make it.

Good luck guys. Keep up the good work. It don't get much better than this, winning football and all. Life is good...

ole nib

"Listen, my children and you shall hear..."

That's the part of the opening line of a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow entitled "Paul Revere's Ride". Some call it the Mid-night Ride of Paul Revere. For years it was used as a learning tool for students when they were studying the Revolutionary War. I don't know if it is still used today or not. Longfellow wrote that around 100 years after that event.

The poem is an account of the mid-night ride Paul Revere made from Boston to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming in force to arrest them on April 18,1775. The Brits wanted to arrest both Adams & Hancock for sedition for their activities leading up to the war. Revere was a member of the Sons of Liberty. He was sort of a secret agent back in colonial times.

While in Boston last week we visited Paul Revere's house and grave site. The house pictured above sits at 19 North Square in the North End of Boston. It was built c.1680 and Revere lived there with his family from 1770 to 1800. For a token fee you can tour the whole house and see furniture and other items on display from that era. You're not allowed to take pictures inside the house but if interested you can go to http://www.paulreverehouse.org/ to see what it looked like.

After the Revere family moved out it was a rental unit for immigrant families and sometimes used as a shop. In the early 1900s they were making plans to tear it down but Revere's great-grandson bought it in 1902. It was restored to the original specifications and in 1908 was opened to the public. Back in the days it was built and when the Revers lived there it was considered quite a grand house. By today's standards it looks a bit small and cramped for a family with kids.

Revere was a silversmith by trade and was noted for his quality work in that line. He employed many laborers and other tradesmen in his shop. Having folks to look after things allowed him time to be a messenger to carry the news to outlying areas and was sometimes sent to New York City and Philadelphia. That is how he got the task of his famous mid-night ride. Back in those days newspapers were scant and it was before the time for any form of telecommunications. So Revere got the job as an "express rider" while he was secretly a member of the Sons of Liberty. That job served his covert activities quite well. In addition to silversmith Revere also ran a hardware store, had a foundry and after the Revolution built the first copper rolling mill in the United States. He did a little politicing also. He must of been a busy man.

Revere died in 1818 at the age of 84. His final resting place is in the Granary Burying Ground next to the Park St. Church on Tremont St. in Boston. I was curious why they would name a grave yard after a place to store grain but could not find any history to shed any light on that aspect of it. The Granary is the third oldest cemetery in Boston with graves dating back to the early 1600s. Revere's original tomb stone and a small monument is also pictured above. We'll probably have more on the Granary later on. Along with the house it was a unique place to see.

That ends today's history lesson. Wonder where Revere lived between 1800 until the time of his death?

Oh, that first stanza of the poem goes:

Listen my children and you shall hear

of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteen of April in Seventy-five,

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

ole nib