I am So Canton... I remember when Shelly Boy was the voice everyone imitated, and we all feared his Pit Bull I remember when we walked the train tracks by Gage Gardens. I remember stopping at Pit Stop on Cleve Ave to get a square of late night pizza cause Pizza Oven was closed! Who can forget old man Zavarelli... He was the coolest and his pizza tasted way better then! I remember when Kyce Turner, Morris Polk & Ben Ball ruled the courts at Riverside, and Darrell Smith devastated cats with his crossover! I remember our whole track team running the McKinley Monument Steps and the football team running Fawcetts steps! Who can forget Ms. Joan Grants wigs and Mr. Browns toupees! Who can forget George Dunwoody saving us from the wrath of Mrs. Crenshaw! Who doesnt miss those parties at Roosevelt, or the days of Skateland or Skate-A-Way! The fights on/off the skate bus were intense, but no one died... We just earned respect! The MARCHING 100 of McKinley were why you went to the HOF PARADE! And Mama Gerthas Darwins Debutants were why you went to the Junior HOF Parade. Opening Day at Woodys or Patricks ice cream spots! Hot Dogs at the PDQ before a Wilick Field midget league football or softball game! Or Mighty Mite baseball practice by Mahoning! THE CANTON BLUE COATS made us known world-wide! Mayor Stanley Cmich was the Main Street Mayor. And Father Coleman showed us all Love at St. Pauls annual Family Festival! St. Haralambos Greek Festival has always been great Fun/Food for every nationality, and the Italian Fest as well! But The Artist known as Prince said it best when I think of the HALL OF FAME rib burn off and Festival, as well as the Enshrinement Ceremony, Luncheon, and Jackson-Belden Baloon Festival... Nothing Compare 2 U I remember laughing at cats for taking girls to the Top of The Mark motel or the Moon Mist! (Chuck E.) Lmbo! Cant forget the best steaks in town at Sparta or Benders tavern! Every time I come home I must have an Executive or a Reuben at TAGGERTS! Or a burger and chocolates from Milk & Honey! Ben Heggys still has the best Chocolate in town... And Cashews!!! I really miss walking in Mother Jeters front door to get a piece of Lucys pound cake or some of Mother Jeters ANYTHING SHE WAS COOKING! But I was blessed that Mama Bernadine is my Mother, so the kitchen was/is always right!!! Before The Old Timers move to a church, and a church moved to The Old Timers, those Easter Egg Hunts were so much fun! Cap III and Pastor George kept us tuned in to 1520 and we told everybody George Is On...! Those concerts in Nimisilla Park were life changing! I miss Concerts with the Singing Wonders, Canton Community Choir, Antioch Baptist Church choir, the Angels and aunt Pearlene Cole Myricks, or hearing Pastor Lee Knucklos sing Too Close. Bishop Hezekiah Farrell taught us Its A Bubblin and Lucy & Lennon Smith & Pastor Ricky Brown sang us dizzy as Mama Wade twirled in the floor! Pastor Ace Gillems always brought the Preachin Machines to the city... And got us dressed for every event, like Chris Smith Talk of The Town fashion shows! Her, Sly, Simone & Aunt Bootsie got them heads right while Mr. Willie Paul Milan kept our fashion savvy! Then the world waited for Ms, Janet Chenault to tell the story! Coach Tom McDaniels got our brothers and sons disciplined and focused but it was R.C. Hill, Ed Mitchell, Richard Mitchell and John Mack taught many of us to be men! Dumonts Sporting Goods was the only place we wanted to gear up at! Massillon, OH was our enemy for 1 week a year! But the rest of that time, The Rice Sisters had our ear! Pastor Robert Lewis, Chris Gales, Pastor Bernard Lawson and our friends over at True Church were a part of our history! I miss those BEAT MASSILLON Bon Fires and pep rallys! At Mr. Gs you got Chicken, Chess, Wisdom and one of the best singers I knew!!! Mike Michael Harrer has us dancing all night on the ones and twos, while Cedrick J. Grizzard taught us all the new moves! Mr. Charles Ede, Pastor Gilbert Carter, Pastor Warren Chavers taught us knowledge of self and to seek wisdom! Mr. Will Dent, Mr. Robert Bobby Fisher, and Mr. John Lucas taught us to seek to gain ownership and have political knowledge! James Threefourteen Ball and Rosyln Pratt put local artistry on the map with Dex, after the O.Jays reped Cleveland for years... (Welcome back tho!) Ms. Gloria Dunivant, Ms. Stephanie Patrick and soooo many other Black Educators made education matter! Then Pastor Henderson taught us to serve God with our whole hearts while Mama Mildred Glenn showed us how to serve God until the day we died, and when her favorite student Pastor Lemmie Snell died... We all felt it! Even B.B. McClains, Chillis Lounge, The Pub, the Brothers of the Hammer, The Blue Knights, the Pawnee Club, Up on the Hill, Faulkners Barber Shop and The Store made their lasting good times impressions! We all had Life, Love and Growth in common... Murder and hatred were very rare... We got past disagreements, we spoke face-to-face as men & women! THIS is the Canton I know... THIS IS THE CANTON I LOVE... -The Vois
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 15:17:27 +0000