By Edward P. Noga
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – After an interesting week of weather that included temperatures hitting the 40s then plummeting to the 20s and lower, and large doses of rain, snow, freezing rain, blowing wind and even sunshine, I sat down Sunday night on this President’s Day weekend and was glad there is no school today because it might have been canceled anyway.
So what to do on this snowy, snowy night? Well, I realized how optimism and positive energy warmed my heart these past 10 days here in the Mahoning Valley. Rather than moan about snow and freezing temperatures, I decided to review some news that truly warmed my heart and put a smile on my face.
News of condos on the Mahoning River in Lowellville reminded me of my Youngstown councilman building his new home a few years ago just above the river as it makes its way through downtown. He shared that “someday, someday” houses and apartments and condos would line the river in different locales because folks like living near water, especially moving water.
Then came the surprise one morning as Jim Tressel’s face came on the TV screen with the flashing headline BREAKING NEWS. We know the rest of the story. The coach that brought our university football team to national prominence and led the same university for several years as its president, THAT SAME Jim Tressel who always talks about team efforts and collaboration, was nominated and subsequently endorsed as our state’s lieutenant governor. WOW! One of our own!
Another early morning news announcement woke me up a few days later when a local priest I have always admired was named by Pope Francis as the new bishop of a Midwestern diocese. Wow! One of our own!
Then came a news story as Valentine’s Day weekend began to make its way on various traditional and modern news outlets. Simply Slavic, the annual Slavic gathering and festival, signed a deal to use the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre as its home for the next five years. Kudos go to the Simply Slavic board and the folks at JAC Management for the vision and commitment to this public gathering space on the banks of the Mahoning River.
In my opinion, the developing footprint of the river, downtown and Youngstown State University campus all point to festivals, concerts and other community gatherings taking place at the Covelli Centre and riverfront properties. Let downtown proper be downtown proper. Walk a block and enjoy the river, acres of open, well-maintained grassy area and the space and amenities of the amphitheater, Wean Park, Covelli Centre, the Youngstown Flea and Penguin City. It was not long ago that none of these were present. This rolling expanse of land, nature and parking needs to be the site of public gatherings.
Similarly, our neighbors in Warren, Niles, Campbell, Struthers and Lowellville are seeing their river footprint evolve into possibilities that those from a generation ago would have said emphatically, “It will never happen!”
These days, such opportunities seem to pop up regularly, and shame on us if we let them slip by. Again, in my humble opinion, we have let too many opportunities pass us by. But this is not the time to talk about that. Down the road, perhaps …
So a snowy, snowy night in northeastern Ohio was the catalyst to look beyond the weather and be grateful for news that puts our Valley in positive, public spotlights.
Grateful, I am!