St. Patrick's Day Parade in Cleveland 2022

 The 2022 St Patrick's Day Parade in Cleveland took place after missing 2 years because of the Covid pandemic.

Before the Parade honorees and dignitaries gathered on the steps of the Cosgrove Center including Grand Marshall Tom McManamon, Mother of the Year Rita Lally, Inside Co-Chair Eileem Mangan Stull and Outside Co-Chair Patricia Coleman Lavelle.

Because the 2020 Parade had to be cancelled, the 2020 honorees were also there: Grand Marshall Tom Scanlon, Mother of the Year Kathleen Mangan, Inside Co-Chair Maureen Mohney and Outside Co-Chair Christopher Cooper.

Bishop Edward Malesic and Mayor Justin Bibb

Mayor Justin Bibb, Bishop Edward Malesic and Council President Blaine Griffin were also there.

Jim Kilbane served as MC and Katie Cooper led the Irish anthem in Gaelic and then the US anthem. Watch a video of the ceremony before the Parade:

We have posted photos and videos of the entire Parade broken down in segments.

Main St. Patrick's Day 2022 page 

Start of the 2022 St. Patrick's Day Parade

Irish American Club East Side

Division 1 of the 2022 St. Patrick's Day Parade

West Side Irish American Club

Division 2 of the 2022 St. Patrick's Day Parade

2022 St. Patrick's Day Parade - Photo Page

 

It was a great day and we have some great photos and videos

Alberto Giacometti - Toward the Ultimate Figure - Cleveland Museum of Art

 The latest exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art is called Alberto Giacometti - Toward the Ultimate Figure. #TowardTheUltimateFigure

The exhibition Alberto Giacometti: Toward the Ultimate Figure gathers an ensemble of masterpieces focusing on the artist's major achievements of the postwar years (1945-66). Combining all media-sculpture, painting, and drawing-the show of 60 works draws upon the deep resources of the artist's personal collection and examines a central, animating aspect of his oeuvre: his extraordinary, singular concern for the human figure. Co-organized by the Fondation Giacometti in Paris and the Cleveland Museum of Art, the exhibition will also be presented at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Seattle Art Museum; and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. So we are very fortunate to have it here in Cleveland and first.

If you are expecting typical sculptures of people that look just like them, you will be surprised. Giacometti is best known for the bronze sculptures of tall, thin human figures that often look emaciated. Giacometti once said that he was sculpting not the human figure but "the shadow that is cast".

Here is a short video tour of the exhibit

See more photos and video of Alberto Giacometti - Toward the Ultimate Figure

Rally for Ukraine in Parma

Parma Ohio is a suburb of Cleveland that has a large and strong Ukrainian community including an area known as Ukrainian Village. With the atrocities of the criminal invasion of sovereign Ukraine by the madman Putin, the Ukrainian community, friends and supporters gathered on Sunday February 27, 2022 to show support.

Crowds filled St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral to capacity and the standing room only crowd spilled outside.

Rev. Michael Hontaruk 

The event began with solemn prayers for the country and people of Ukraine.

Marta Liscynesky-Kelleher, president of the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, an umbrella group for more than 50 Ukrainian cultural, political and other organizations in the state, served as MC.

After her remarks she introduced speakers including:

• Honorary Consul of Lithuania Ingrida Bublys 
•  American Jewish Committee Cleveland Regional Director Lee C. Shapiro
• Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter who called up the Parma City Council
• US Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur
• US Senator Rob Portman

Pictures and videos of all the speeches at the Ukraine Rally

Near the end of the ceremony the crowd sang a Ukrainian song wishing 100 years of life and then God Bless America.  

After the ceremony the people gathered outside the Church with signs and sang songs and showed support for Ukraine.

More from the Rally for Ukraine in Parma

Fun with Maps - Ukraine

 We had always planned on doing a Fun with Maps episode about Ukraine but due to the tragic current situation we moved it up in order. People are understandably very curious to know more about the country of Ukraine. And yes it is a country. It is not THE Ukraine; it is the country of Ukraine. Using the term THE Ukraine makes it sound like a region of another country as opposed to a sovereign nation.

Ukraine is the second-largest country by area in Europe after Russia, which it borders to the east and north-east. Ukraine also shares borders with Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the south; and has a coastline along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It spans an area of 233,062 sq. miles with a population of 43.6 million. That makes it the eighth-most populous country in Europe.

We briefly talk about the history of Ukraine including the tragedy at Chernobyl and the Holodomor. We also touch on the great writer Lesya Ukrainka and pysanky Easter eggs.

See more Fun with Maps episodes

Kurentovanje - Slovenian Mardi Gras

The 10th annual Cleveland version of the most popular carnival in Slovenia - Kurentovanje - was a week long event featuring cooking demos, language instruction, a dance party, fun run and more. But the highlight was the annual Kurentovanje parade followed by the festival celebration. Because of Covid concerns the festival was held outside the Slovenian National Home.

That did not dampen the spirit as crowds lined St. Clair for the Parade and then went to the heated tents for music, food and fun. Young and old dressed in costumes to scare away winter. And of course everyone wanted to take a picture with a Kurent or a Krampus character.

See many more photos from the Kurentovanje Festival

Here is a video of some of the highlights of the 2022 Cleveland Kurentovanje Parade beginning with the units lining up and getting ready to march on St. Clair Ave. to the Slovenian National Home. You will see the St. Martin de Porres HS drummers and cheerleaders as well as the scary Krampus characters, various Slovenian schools, the King and Queen of Kurentovanje, Councilman Mike Polensek and, of course, lots of Kurents! .

See lots of photos from the Kurentovanje Parade

Italian Heritage in Cleveland

 Italian Heritage in Cleveland

Italian immigrants and Italian Americans have played an important part in the history and growth of Cleveland. This is on display at the Italian Museum of Cleveland located in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland.

In this video, Pamela Dorazio Dean, Director of the museum, led Dan Hanson on a quick tour of some of the Museum's displays and told the story of the Italians coming to Cleveland and helping build it and make it grow. The first wave of immigrants settled in what was called Big Italy but later moved to several neighborhoods in both the west and east sides including, of course, Little Italy.

Pamela told how many of the immigrants were skilled stone carvers and how they played an important role in the creation of the huge Guardians statues which became the inspiration for the Cleveland baseball team's name change from Indians to Guardians. The Feast of the Assumption and Columbus Day Parade were discussed and Pamela shared the history of how Columbus Day came to be celebrated. It resulted from the largest lynching in US history when 11 Italian immigrants were lynched in New Orleans in 1891. Pamela stressed that Columbus Day is mostly a celebration of Italian heritage.

The museum is free to visit.

See more of Italians in Cleveland

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West African food in Cleveland

Yum Village is a new Cleveland restaurant that features West African and Caribbean food.

  It’s at 2215 Chester, right across from Cleveland State University.  We spoke with one of the owners Carasai Ihentuge who said there are 2 Yum Villages in his hometown of Detroit.  

Most of the food in the 2,400-square-foot space is non-GMO and vegan, but meat and chicken dishes are offered. Most are not very spicy.  

Carasai’s father is from Lagos, Nigeria and he grew up eating this food. 

 For us meat lovers, try the Flip Village Combo which is Mango Curry Chicken with Ginger Curry Chickpeas and White Potato Flips over a bed of delicious Coconut Rice or the DJ Village Combo which is Jezebel Peach Honey Mustard Chicken over Turmeric Rice served with Truffle Oil Greens and White Potato Flips. Neither is spicy. 

Watch Carasai talk about the restaurant and the food.

See  more at Nigerians in Cleveland

Rebuilder's XCHange

 Rebuilders Xchange (RBX) buys and sells construction material from ordinary to extraordinary. RBX is in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood in an organized, 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse. (The address is 5401 Hamilton but it's easier to go North on East 53rd - their website has clear directions).

On the supply side, they work with local contractors and individuals who have access to overstock, new or salvaged building material. RBX inventories, markets, and sells dropped-off items. Once an item sells, RBX cuts the 'consignor' a check at the end of the month for 50% of each sale. Instead of dumping, donating or storing usable material; both businesses and individuals finally have a streamlined solution for making money.

On the demand side, they are open to the public 4 days a week! Customers have access to an ever-changing inventory of over 1,000's of new, unique, and vintage items.

See photos, video interviews and learn more about RBX 

Watch this interview with founders Jessica Davis and Ron Copfer.

Fun with Maps - A special look at longitude and latitude (and more)

 This is a special episode of Fun with Maps with Dan Hanson.  Instead of looking at one particular area, we look at some items that affect all the maps of earth.  These are the terms latitude and longitude.

Using those coordinates you can pinpoint any place on earth.  They are essential for ship captains and pilots and others. 

Maybe this will be a refresher course or maybe it will be new for you as we discuss latitude, longitude, the Prime Meridian, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, the Equator, International Dateline, Greenwich Mean Time, Time Zones and more.   

And we explain how you can be at a spot on Earth where it is both today and yesterday. (like in the picture from I, Plenz above of the International Date Line in Fiji.

More Fun with Maps.  

Fun with Maps - Malta

Location, location, location.  That well-known real estate phrase certainly rings true for this episode’s map.  In this episode we are looking at the map of a small country that has a great strategic location – about midway between the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal in the Mediterranean Sea. 

You may know it for two popular items – the Maltese Cross and the Maltese Falcon, a 1941 Humphrey Bogart movie.  Of course I am talking about the Southern European island country of Malta, an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea just 50 miles to the south of Sicily, 176 miles east of Tunisia and 207 miles north of Libya. 

 This is an interesting map –some might call it the stuff that dreams are made of – that’s a quote from Humphrey Bogart’s character Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon movie.

See more episodes of Fun with Maps

Passing of Cleveland Opera Icon Soprano Andrea Anelli

We are so sorry to learn of the passing of Passing Cleveland Opera Icon Andrea Anelli. She passed peacefully from a long-term cancer in her Chardon home the morning of 1/1/22.

Gregory Polyak, VP of Northern Ohio Opera League (NOOL) said "Soprano Andrea Anelli was the founder and co-director of three different opera companies: Opera Per Tutti (2006), rebranded as Cleveland Opera Theater (2014), and ContempOpera/Cleveland (2016). Each opera company had a different goal and audience to satisfy. And satisfy Andrea did with each company.

She not only created, auditioned, selected music, costumes, sets, directed, produced, found venues to perform in, and raised funds she sang in most of the productions. I am tired thinking of all she did. Succeeding in each endeavor makes her a Cleveland legend.

Most today say her Cleveland Opera Theater is today's highest level and most diverse in NE Ohio. She took them from a "founder-driven" to a "board-driven" entity for growth. "I never dreamed it could become what it did," Anelli said. "It so far exceeded my expectations. It's been quite a journey."

We first saw Andrea perform at the Opera in the Italian Cultural Garden. She and her Opera Per Tutti (Opera for All) performed there for several years.

Here are a few example videos

She was a deserving recipient of the Cleveland Italian American Heritage Award in 2015. She sang the national anthem at the Cleveland International Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2017. You can see Andrea sing in many Italian Garden Opera performances and other places in our YouTube videos. Just search for andrea anelli dan hanson youtube What a voice. What a woman. What a loss.

Fun with Maps - Haiti

Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic.

 Haiti has an estimated population of 11.4 million, making it the most populous country in the Caribbean.  The people have suffered a lot. Since 1998, Haiti has been hit by ten hurricanes and other tropical storms, causing widespread loss of life and flooding with every landfall. Other natural disasters, such as the 2010 earthquake, have also resulted in massive amounts of death and property and infrastructure damage, especially in urban areas like Port-au-Prince, the capital.  

They have a proud history as the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the second republic in the Americas, the first country to abolish slavery, and the only state in history established by a successful slave revolt. 

Fun with Maps - The North Pole

 From the famous polar bear riddle to Santa Claus to famous explorations and expeditions the North Pole is completely unique. The North Pole is by definition the northernmost point on the Earth, lying diametrically opposite to the South Pole. At the North Pole all directions point south; all lines of longitude converge there. Thanks to Gerardus Mercator we have had maps of the Arctic region and North Pole for centuries.

This video talks about the "wobble" at the North Pole, an amazing meeting between Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong at the North Pole, the mystic aura of the Pole and, yes, some thoughts about Santa Claus.

See more Fun with Maps videos

Carnovsky 3 pictures in 1 Ocean Jigsaw Puzzle

 This is not your typical jigsaw puzzle. It is very challenging because it consists of 3 different images sitting on top of each other and forming one blended image.

The creators Carnovsky are a Milan based art and design duo compromising of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla. They are best known for their RGB project, which was first presented at Milan Design Week in 2010 and has since been showcased in numerous international exhibitions.

It is a high-quality product. There are 500 nice solid pieces which come in a sturdy paper bag. You also get 3 pairs of viewing glasses (Blue, Green and Red) and a copy of the Ocean artwork print.

Why the colored viewing glasses? You will need them (or use your phone to scan a QR code to acts as the lenses) in order to discern the 3 images. I tried solving the puzzle without using the glasses and was only able to complete the border.

When you put on the red glasses, for example, you see only the image that makes it through the filter. The same for the blue and the green. For me the blue lenses were too dark and it was difficult to work with that image. But the red and green really popped.

This is a challenging and fun puzzle. Don't give up. You will be rewarded with a beautiful 19.7 inches x 19.7 inches result.

Nela Park GE Lighting Holiday Light Display 2021

 Nela Park is the headquarters of GE Lighting, located in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is the first industrial park in the world and was home to most of the lighting breakthroughs of the last century.  Thomas Edison was a founder.  Albert Einstein and other notables visited.  

I was raised in East Cleveland and our family visited the world-famous Christmas lighting display every Christmas season.  You used to be able to drive through the campus but in recent years the display is all along Noble Rd.  Here is a quick video tour of the 2021 display.

See  more of GE Nela Park at Cleveland 101 

Fun with Maps – The Kamchatka Peninsula

 Fun with Maps – The Kamchatka Peninsula

When the Soviet Union fell in 1991 it was the first time in over 50 years that outsiders were able to visit the topic of this episode of Fun with Maps, Kamchatka.

Kamchatka is a 900-mile-long peninsula roughly the size of California, yet only 400,000 people were allowed to live there, and all had to have special military clearances. The reason for the secrecy was Kamchatka's location so near Japan and the US that Soviets could listen in on communications during the Cold War. 

 Kamchatka is an example of a map having enormous geopolitical implications. Russia may have regrets about ceding the Kuril Islands to Japan, not to mention selling Alaska to the US in 1867.  Had they not, how those events may have influenced history we will never know.  

More Fun with Maps episodes

More Russians in Cleveland

Mom

 I just left the hospital.  Mom passed away this morning.  

When Dad died 29 years ago on Thanksgiving it left a void and I still miss him every day.  

But Mom was the matriarch of the family and this emptiness will never be filled. I usually have too many words but I am at a loss now.

She’s with Dad (and her brother Terry and all the Sweeneys, Primosches and other family and friends) in Heaven so her suffering is over. 

For Debbie and me and the rest of her family and friends it has just begun.  I miss you already Mom.

Holodomor Commemoration at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral

Every November, The Cleveland and Parma Ukrainian communities, along with Ukrainian communities and allies around the world, commemorate the victims of the Ukrainian-Famine Genocide of 1932-1933.

The United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, led by Marta Liscynesky-Kelleher and George Jaskiw, M.D., held a remembrance ceremony on Saturday, November 13, 2021 at the Holodomor Memorial at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma Ohio.

The program included presentations from youth groups and a service (panakhyda) for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

Watch a video of highlights.

More from the Holodomor Commemoration

A look at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral

 

Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia's Sacred Mountain

 The Cleveland Museum of Art's highly anticipated exhibition, Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia's Sacred Mountain opened November 14, 2021. The groundbreaking exhibition incorporates mixed reality and reveals the CMA's newly restored Cambodian masterwork, Krishna Lifting Mount Govardhan, through an integration of art and experiential digital design.

The exhibition transports visitors to the dramatic floodplains of southern Cambodia and illustrates the history of the sculpture, spanning 1,500 years and three continents. The exhibition unveils Krishna alongside nine other related large-scale sculptures generously lent from the NMC, the Angkor Borei Museum and the Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet in Paris, through an integration of art, technology and experiential design.

According to Sanskrit texts, Krishna, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, once hoisted a mountain overhead to shelter people and cattle from a mighty storm brought upon them by Indra, the god of rain and lightning, whom Krishna had angered. At the time, the dark-skinned god was just eight years old, and after this feat, his fellow villagers came to recognize him as a divinity. Around the year 600, a sculpture was created for the temple site of Phnom Da in southern Cambodia to honor this feat.

Watch Dan Hanson's video preview of the exhibit which includes comments from Sonya Rhie Mace, CMA's George P. Bickford Curator of Indian and Southeast Asian Art who speaks about the participation of actress Angelina Jolie among other items. It also takes a look at the incredible HoloLens 2 virtual reality tour which includes a life-size holographic representation of the original cave temple on Phnom Da.

See more pictures and information on Revealing Krishna

Veteran’s Day - 3 Asian-American Marines you should know about

At the Cleveland Asian Festival several years ago Marine Brigadier General Daniel D. Yoo (Korean heritage) spoke about the contributions of Asian-Americans in the Marine Corps and other services and singled out 3 Asian-American military heroes.  It’s worth at watch.

Thanks to all Veterans