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David Mitchell

My dad grew up on 10th (or 11th?) Ave near the fairgrounds and OSU campus. He went to Holy Name school until about high school, when his parents bought a house at 44 Acton Road (near the Park of 'Roses). He loved being in Immaculate Conception parish. He loved the neighborhood of Clintonville. His baby sister (who, as an Army nurse, landed on the beaches of Normandy just 24 hours after the initial D-Day invasion) was married at I.C. Dad dreamed of coming home from the Pacific after WW2 and building a home in that parish. 

Shortly after he had purchased a very nice lot on Overbrook Drive (accessed off of Yaronia Dr.) and built a spendid stone house, the Diocese of Columbus carved out a new parish - Our Lady of Peace. And they drew the new northern boundary of I.C. parish at Glenmont, just one block south of us. Dad was heartbroken. 

I know it is not an essential matter the Faith, but he loved the beautiful church at I.C. And it was hard for him to accept the first OLP church - an old quanset hut, and then the second "temporary church" - an ugly gymnasium.

We sometimes attended Mass at I.C. just to be in what Dad called "a real church". 

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This brings up an interesting follow-up story. 

Many of you may recall that our (OLP) pastor - Fr. George Foley was obsessed with bingo as a money raising device - more so than most parishes. Some of his Sunday sermons were completely unrelated to the Gospel, but rather, loud, fist pounding rants about certain parish women who had failed to bake their assigned pies for the previous week's bingo crowd.

It was a known fact that he invested the parish savings with his brother, a stock broker in Boston. I recall one particular Sunday when he was actually spitting saliva from his mouth while screaming at the top of his voice from the pulpit. At that moment, our neighbor and good friend, Jack Russeau got up out of his front row pew, motioned to his wife Betty, and their four girls (at that time only 4 kids - before they moved down to IC parish) to follow him and walked out - making the sign of slitting his throat as he walked by our pew and looked at Dad. Jack was livid!

When Fr. Foley finally died - of a stroke or heart attack (I beleive), it was discoverd that the funds were gone and his brother had retiired and moved to the Bahamas. The parish was broke!

If I recall correctly, my dad, Mr. Kaps (Charlie's dad), and several other parishioners were convinced that Fr. Foley had learned of his brother's actions and that discovery had induced his death.  

Theresa Zeyen (Kucsma)

Taking cursive out of the curriculum happened after I retired in 2006. The teachers I talked to indicated that there was no time to teach anything that wasn't on the state assessment tests. Schools lived and died on their performance on those tests and pretty much still do. Teacher evaluation was even tied to those tests. Gone were the days when a team of teachers could hand select the students to put to the best learning environment. We had teachers who excelled at working w kids w certain kinds of learning needs so we configured the classes accordingly. The best example might be a former Learning Disabilities teacher taking most of the kids identified that way and a good portion of the nonidentfied kids. We were then able to schedule much more support into that classroom so the kids got much more targeted instruction. That class's performance on state assessments never hit the "passing standard" but the individual kids showed remarkable growth. However that teacher was considered subpar and could have been subject to career altering interventions.

Bet you didn't think you'd open this can of worms just bc kids don't learn to write in cursive anymore.  They can't read cursive either so I've learned to print all written communication to my great and great-great nieces and nephews.  

Any OLP'ers out there remember learning the Palmer method of handwriting in 6 grade?

John Jackson

Theresa, I do remember that we had to make all the letters "on the slant of the push-pull".  Or am I just imagining that - you know we're at that age when your mind starts to play tricks on you...

Michael McLeod

hey, mr. jackson, whoever you are, my mind is still razor sharp.

And Dave: that is a terrible and tragic story. What a horrific tragedy for all involved. Do you know if there was ever a lawsuit? I'm thinking in those days the diocese might have let it slide rather than bring on any publicity and embarrassment.

Janie Albright (Blank)

I'm pleased to say that my three grandchildren attend Bexley Public schools and they continue to teach Cursive writing. Dave called it Longland. I remember calling it Script. It does not appear that the time to learn this has taken away from other studies as Bexley was just ranked the #1 high school in the state of Ohio. 
 

Janie Albright (Blank)

Just so you know I didn't miss the scatological conversation. I do remember the word, Mike. There was a guy running for office in our district when we lived out by Buckeye Lake. His name was David Barnstool (Theresa, you probably remember this) and every time I saw a campaign sign with this name in huge letters I cringed. Sorry. I should have let this subject die. 
 

David Mitchell

Was it the "Palmer Method" or the "Zaner-Bloser" method?

David Mitchell

I forgot to include one fact in my prior post #13147.

At the time of Fr. Foley's death, I seem to recall Dad saying that the parish savings fund was aprroximately $500,000.00 - and as I said, it was all gone.

  Added later : it was all savings for the future  "permanent" church.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

For IC Alumni:

The church was still beautiful and packed (mostly with students who processed in and out as you would remember:

https://share.icloud.com/photos/04f1zLUsvAikjzKCKdyhSqB6A

https://share.icloud.com/photos/057CsYYWyHZZpgAtmVx5aNmBA

https://share.icloud.com/photos/01abWC8mDbfm5oVEvgQpRT-Gw
 

Mary still held her place of honor:

The school itself seemed so much smaller.  Remember the sky-reaching staircase as you entered the building, leading to the office and the eighth grade classrooms?  Not so impressive!!

The trophies in the trophy case (which was bursting at the seams) only dated back to 2004!!! But we are remembered on a wall of class pictures inside the new entrance.    
 

https://share.icloud.com/photos/04f1zLUsvAikjzKCKdyhSqB6A

I remember the ramp leading from the multipurpose room to the front of the building as having quite an incline.  Can you notice it?

But the bathrooms still seemed pretty old school!!!

Found your old desk on display:

James Hamilton, M. D.

Clare,

As Bob Hope's theme song used to say "Thanks for the memories" with those great pictures.

I certainly recall all those spaces but they were much darker in the 50's - or perhaps it was just that way in my mind. Maybe it was both. Modern day colors tend to be white and bright.

Jim

David Mitchell

"Immaculate Mary, our hearts are on fire. Ave, Ave, Ave Maria"

Ahh memories.

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Thanks for the photographic tour, Clare!  Lots of IC memories. At the risk of getting Mike started again I will say that it is the first time I see the interior of the boys lavatory. :-)

Good to hear from some of our teachers. Could we maybe have a raise of hands of all the teachers from Class of ´66?  Just curious to see how many there are.

Theresa Zeyen (Kucsma)

Oh,yes,the push and pull. We were supposed to sit up very straight, point the top of our pencils toward our left shoulders, then slide along on the fingernails of our right hands to form the letters. We spent hours practicing loops before even trying letters and words. My problem was I couldn't even see where my pencil point was on the paper or what I was writing, but the nun (can't remember her name) was more interested in our postures. I remember it as torture. This was in sixth grade. 
As far as names go, I remember printing or manuscript preceded cursive or longhand. I believe Zaner Blosser was the more common style and only the one nun bludgeoned us into the Palmer Method. I don't remember having to use it in 7th or 8th grades or ever again. 
When I was teaching, the lower grades started teaching D'Nealian which was a connected printing. It was supposed to help kids w learning disabilities distinguish b from d and p from q. I have no idea if it had any effect. 

MM, yes, Branstool is a prominent name in Licking County, more around the Johnstown area though I think.  The family is active politically but they also own Branstool orchards (Utica) - usually great peaches but no crop this year due to cold spring weather, and they grow a great variety of apples too.  Fun place to visit and you can even pick your own.  Legend Hills is another great orchard near Utica.
And about names in Licking County, I taught in Southwest Licking Shools for 13 years  I always associated the name w its location in the county.  Middle school aged minds go somewhere very different. But then middle school aged minds are unexplainable. 

Yes I'm a teacher - 35 years K-8, and 10 more part time supervising student teachers and reading practicum students. Got into administration at school, county, and district levels but was most fulfilled in a building on a daily basis w kids and teachers. 
 

David Mitchell

Donna,

Thank you for saving me the embarrassment of being the first to comment on Clare's 5th Slide. I've been patiently holding back prior to your post.

If my guess is correct, it was in fact, more information than many of us needed. But we are indebted to Clare for such a thorough job of historical documentation. It will indeed assist historians who will be able to note that I.C. School was a more affluent facility than OLP because we only had about 6 "stalls" in our basement boys "lavatory".  

And I am confident that you are now all indebted to me for having disclosed this fact. But I humbly ask your forgiveness for my lack of photographic proof. 

Michael McLeod

Donna: I hereby poo-poo your assumption that all I am interested in is potty humor.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL,

Since you were the instigator of the recent discussion by mentioning the term "stool", I would recommend you take a quick Bing or other Search Engine look at the new way physicians are approaching how to discuss this topic with patients using the Bristol Stool Form Scale. ​​​​​​

This is a more scientific and patient oriented method to approach history taking when discussing this topic in those with bowel complaints.

Jim

Michael McLeod

Good lord Jim. Just a little miffed that you have been sitting on this information with the door shut all these years before airing it out with us.

Sending off for a copy of the Bristol Stool Chart today. The cheapest one I could find on amazon is $9.99

Intend to hang it  on the wall of the study where I write for inspiration. 

Wait. There's also a coffee cup.

I think it's hilarious that the poop chart is named after a town in England where it was, presumably, created.

So Like the know-it-all Brits to have appointed themselves as the arbiters of doo-doo.

https://www.amazon.com/bristol-stool-chart/s?k=bristol+stool+chart

Michael McLeod

Theresa:

Good to hear from a teacher in the trenches.

I've been enlightened by my relationship with an incredible woman who's been teaching for decades in Montessori schools, first in Washington DC and more recently down here in Florida, where she teaches grades 1 to three in a public magnet school program. 

We've been together for ten years. Lucky for me she's adept at dealing with a problem-child mentality. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

911 and 9-1-1: Lives Lost, Changed and Lives Saved

Tomorrow is Patriot Day, a day in which we remember the horrible events that ocurred 22 years ago. Just as our parents can recall what they were doing on December 7, 1941 and we can recall where we were on November 22, 1963, our generation and perhaps one generation behind us will always have those visions of terror etched in our minds. Those were national tragedies that changed life in our United States forever.

But what about our personal lives and health? That date could be February 16, 1968.

On that date the first official call to 911 was made in America.

We are at the age now when it is very possible that a call to 911 could save our lives. Indeed, I suspect many of us have already made that call for ourselves, friend or family member. And age should't be the limiting factor. Bad things can happen at any age.

On June 10, 2010 I had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) but the symptoms were the same as a stroke. When I sat down and felt lightheaded and had trouble controlling my left arm, my wife noticed something was wrong and asked "should I call 911?". I nodded "Yes". I later thought "why didn't I think of that?" 

About three weeks ago in the early afternoon there was a frantic pounding (not a simple knock) and ringing of our front doorbell. One of the young teenagers from the neighborhood ("Evan" - not his real name) was there, sobbing, anxious and saying something like 'doc, my mom fell - her head - blood everwhere, please hurry'!!!'. As we scurried to his house he had his cellphone to his ear calling 911. Smart kid! Again, why didn't I think of that? Kids today have been taught this almost from infancy and are often tuned into this more than adults. Also household members may be more equipped to do so than than the affected individual.

Fortunately, both of these scenarios had a happy ending. 

Patients often tend to deny or ignore symptoms that could be associated with a very serious, life threatening situation. Of course, heart attacks are on that list. Symptoms of substernal chest pain ("elephant on my chest"), pain radiating down the left (sometimes both or either) arm or to the jaw or upper back, breathing difficulties (short of breath), diaphoresis (sweating), nausea, vomiting etc. are "classic" but do not occur in all cases. Women, although they do get these classic symptoms, can  sometimes have more subtle ones like weakness, lightheadedness or "just don't feel right".

Many cases of heart attacks (myocardial infarction) start out with mild symptoms that are ignored by the patient and dismissed as "indigestion", muscle strain or spasm, or some other "minor" abnormality. Many patients reach for the bottle of mylanta or just sit or lie down "until it goes away".

In times of emergency we tend to be confused, nervous, afraid and deniers. We may think that it is "over the top" to call emergency personnel and bring all those flashing lights, vehicles and equipment and responders to our neghborhood and into our homes. THINK AGAIN!!

​​​​​​There is an old saying in cardiac care that "time is muscle". The goal of acute care is to spare more heart muscle (myocardium) from being damaged (ischemic) or killed (infarcted) by quickly reestablishing blood flow to that part of the heart which has been affected by the blocked artery before permanent damage occurs. That can be done by thrombolytics ("clot busters"), stents or bypass grafts. 

.

So, if something happens to you or someone with you that is unusual or scary and gets your attention, just go ahead and make that 911 call. We all know this is the right thing to do and that we would be the first to tell others to do it or the first to ask others why they didn't do it.

Jim

Addendum:

Ischemic tissue is very irritible and can initiate severe, potentially fatal dysrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. These can be treated by 911 personnel. Infarcted tissue is dead and will form scar tissue. That can weaken the pumping action of the heart (heart failure) which has more long term effects. Ischemic tissue can transition to infarcted tissue if blood flow is not restored within a short period of time.

All of these are reasons to quickly get the kind of help 911 can supply. This goes far beyond CPR which can be given by trained bystanders - and should be - in the unconscious, pulseless, apneic (non-breathing) patient prior to the arrival of the paramedics.

Basic Life Support (CPR) classes are available through your local heart association affiliates. Those courses often involve training in the use of an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) like are seen in stores, arenas,airports and other places. Those machines can be used by anyone and have large instructions on them as to how to use them.

Michael McLeod

Jim: Thank you. That may be the most important post you've ever made over here, and I don't have to ask around to know that we all appreciate it. 

David Mitchell

 I wonder if any of you have ever heard of the "Order of the Red Bandana"? 

I had never heard of it until it was used for a sort of spiritual warm-up excercise for the staff, prior to one of my Marked Men for Christ retreats about 5 years ago. It was actually presented to us by one of our senior leaders, a guy who happened to be my best friend from years before in Denver - and who got me involved in the Marked Men retreats in the first place (after ten years of urging - LOL) 

(his name was Bob Horen, not that it matters. But he was a Catholic Attorney from Denver, a former real estate customer and later, office partner - and one of the best friends I have ever had.) 

The "Red Bandana" is about a young man named Welles Crowther, who was some sort of junior associate of a stock brokerage firm located in one of the twin towers on 9-11. He had worn a red bandana earlier in life while on an athletic team at some eastern school - (perhaps Baseball or LaCrosse at Holy Cross ?) - and just kept the red bandana as he grew older.

On 9-11, Welles tied his red bandana around his face to block the smoke and kept leading people to the exit stairway through the blinding smoke. Shortly after the planes impacted he had called his parents to assure them he was okay, but they never heard from him again after that call. It was determined later that he had gone back up the stairway time and time again, yelling "Follow me. I know the way out". When his body was finally identified, numerous people confirmed that they recognized the red bandana, and/or family photographs of him - and that it was he who had led them to safety.

I believe there is a book about him, and the story has evolved into a sort of a movement with books and study guides (for adults and children) about him and his courageous self-sacrifice.

We at MMFC of course adapted the phrase "Follow me. I know the way out", to the words of Christ - "I am the way".  And we all donned a red bandanna as we read through the prayers and excercises. I still have mine tucked away somewhere in a drawer. 

And ever since Bob led us in that spiritual excercise, I have often thought of young Welles Crowther, and his red bandana. 

Michael McLeod

Got my flu shot and my covid booster last week. 

The year I skipped that chance I wound up coming down with it, suffered through the worst sore throat of my life - I've had many a sore throat but nothing like that one -  and gave it to my girlfriend, who's proceded to have long-covid symptoms. You can imagine how crappy that makes me feel.  It's a mistake I won't repeat. 

I should add that the Florida surgeon general, at least, does not recommend the covid shot for anyone under the age of 65.

David Mitchell

I have long been an advocate for "term limitations" in Congress, the White House, and the Supreme Court.

Lately - after watching viideos of Mitch and Dianne, I have also wished for an age limit. Today, I see where Mitt agrees with that idea.  But I hate to see him go. 

David Mitchell

It is a well known fact that the world is divided into two groups of poeple - those who bought their lunch in the school cafeteria - and those who packed their lunch from home.

Historial records have been uncovered that prove one young boy from an area known to historians as  the Overbrook/Yaronia region of Clintonvillia had his mother pack his lunch in a special container known as a "lunch box" with ancient "cultural symbols" on the exterior;

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David Mitchell

Can any of you recall what or who was on your lunch box?