Editor’s Corner: Lie Back, and Let Loose
By John O’Brien, Jr. @jobjr
I was just turning my mind to fall when Winter let loose. I have all those great memories of cross-country skiing in Montreal, and sliding down the back porch into snow piled high by plows at Nana’s 2nd-floor apartment in Ville St. Pierre; of praying for more snow, so we could not drive back to Cleveland, and school when the holiday ended; of straining to hear the Miracle of Richfield in 1976, while lying on my aunt’s bed in Montreal, as the radio cut in and out, trying to will the win over the Bullets.
Still, no matter the miles or the memories, I still wish for warmth. Three hugs a day for wellness is way better than an apple a day, and the manliness of a hug has changed dramatically in my lifetime.
Book Signing
Laura DeMarco is a Cleveland-based journalist and Plain Dealer columnist passionate about promoting all the people and events going on about town. She is also a gifted author. Last year we hosted a book signing for Laura’s Lost Cleveland and heard a fantastic talk and presentation on our history.
It was so much fun, we’re going to do it again, with Laura’s latest release, Mark Twain’s America, with a few locale surprises within. Join us Tuesday, December 17th, 6:30 pm, at PJ McIntyre’s Irish Pub party room.
Admission is free. The book will make a fantastic Christmas gift too, and Laura will autograph it for you.
2019 Highlights ~ The Year that Was:
We started 2019 with our 12th Anniversary and are now a month away from our 13th. Don’t Blink;
Our 1st Christmas Party was more fun than anyone should ever expect; We welcomed new columnist Margaret Mary Hicks and Interns Molly Adams and Marty Whalen, and bid farewell to MK Campbell, starting her first year of law school.
We are proud to Sponsor St Pat’s Gaelic Football Club this year: to see the work Vincent Beach and his crew have accomplished – with men’s, women’s and youth teams in Gaelic and in Hurling is a level of expansion and involvement Cleveland has never seen;
We are proud to celebrate our 5th year presenting Speak Irish Cleveland classes 30 weeks a year in 3 ten-week sessions, and generously hosted by PJ McIntyre’s.
We are proud to have given over $23,000 in sponsorships and support for local and national charities too this year.
The new year looks even brighter, as we continue our efforts and welcome new partnerships with Tri-C, Global Cleveland, the City of Cleveland, community papers and as many new advertisers as we can join together with, to bring our readers even more content each month, all year long.
None of these highlights can come close to the gratitude we have for all of our supporters – readers, advertisers, and ambassadors in and out of Ohio and Ireland. So many have reached out to us, and reach out to others on our behalf, that we had such a long list of people to appreciate and thank the GOOD Lord for this Thanksgiving.
I will do my best to keep growing and polishing this gift of the OhioIANews for each of you, in recognition and appreciation for these gifts you give us with the growth and success of each issue.
May you have a Blessed Christmas full of family, faith and grace; may 2020 be filled with great memory making people and events. Don’t forget to hug your neighbor.
Nuair a stadann an ceol, stadann an rince
(When the music stops, so does the dance)
John
“Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know;
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