let the party begin

Phoenicopterus parmensis

I have mentioned this before [click], Parma has been associated with flamingos.  People under sixty have shook off the defensiveness, and many have embraced it as the municipal mascot.  A Parma sign had been rather recently put in place.  A local politico, and former history teacher, wanted a sculpture of one by the sign.  Since flamingos are pink, (pink is also the color of the breast cancer health campaign), a man who has been touched by the loss of a wife and daughter to breast cancer gave $2,000 to pay for a statue.  An aluminum seven footer has made it to Parma from California. The feet are cast with words "made in Mexico".  Along with the statue, a stand with a slot to hold phone cameras has been placed in front of the sign.  A second bird is promised to appear somewhere else in the city.

Now, if the edges of the letters were a matching pink...

a clean city is preferable

Clark Recreation Center is undergoing a slow remodel. The clunky sign has been removed, and the original stone is visible. Cleveland had bath (showers) from 1904 to 1954. Ten were built, the last one in 1921. They began to have gym facilities, pools, and meeting rooms. The city buildings were built well. Some became rec-centers, others demolished, one is currently condominiums. They were needed for public health. Neighbourhoods were densely populated in poverty. Housing conditions were below standard. Water was heated by coal, and coal cost money that wasn't always there.

Cleveland Christmas morning steel mill, which has had many names.

year's end

13 December [foto:jz] 30°F and falling. We went to walk our hound, and see some Christmas lights. Independence puts up a lot, with recorded music, and we see more deer than people. It was cloudless. I had not brought a camera, because we have seen these lights before. The sky was black, there was no wind, a rime was only about to form as we were leaving. I had my nephew take fotos with his phone. I really liked the one supra.

19 December 26°F and falling, after a snowfall. We went another night, and the reflection was not a mirror, but less sharp, and more refracted.

There are wars about the world. Once again a dictator in Moscow is killing Ukrainians. The Gaza Strip in Palestine is virtually destroyed, and the so called 'collateral' deaths are targets. Putin, and Netanyahu are bloodthirsty, and vicious, and will do any wicked, or crooked deed to stay in power.

On the 21st, and 22nd of December an ancient murrelet was swimming by the Lorain lighthouse. This is a bird of the north Pacific. One was seen in Ohio, in 1951. This is the second one recorded. I was there to view him, He was visible on strong binoculars, and mounted scopes. He was on the borderline of naked eye vision. I took fotos, but he was just a smudge. The foto supra is one of many waves of red breasted mergansers that fly over Lake Erie.

Christmas robed dolphin holding a mailbox in Bay Village.

tuba season

Ghost of Christmas Present has a smart phone.

Tucker Jolly brought Tuba Christmas to Akron in 1980. In 2013, he semi-retired as professor of tuba and euphonium. Meredith Willson had people sing about 76 trombones, and a 110 cornets. Jolly gets over 500 tubas, and low bass brass. [see 2016], [2017], [2019] 

Four University of Akron students play while sitting at the edge of the stage.

tuba in lights, lower left

helicon

horse collar tuba

ophicleide in center

serpent

random Columbus

Terry Allen. Scioto Lounge [1 of 3]. 2014. Columbus.

This one is on the Rich Bridge, the other two are lounging on the west bank of the Scioto below.

Next to Interstate 71 is this lighthouse on top of a church. The roof had shingles with the words, "Jesus is Lord", spelt out. Some time ago, new shingling was put on without wording. Also, a sailor dummy had been on the tower. I had passed this several times over the years, this time i got off the freeway to foto it.

from the highway October 2019

Leland Ernest Loretz started this congregation, Calvary Temple*, in 1954, and led it till his death in 2011. It was then put on the market. The church was built in the 1970s, Lighthouse Christian Academy in 1978. This sort of construction, incorporating slightly bizarre elements is common among Pentecostalists (and some Baptists). Loretz was a graduate of an Assemblies of God college. Recently it has become Evangelical Church of the Sanctified, a black Pentecostalist denomination, which here is a Haitian congregation.

Daniel H. Burnham. Columbus Union Train Station Arch. 1893-1979.  

This arch was moved from High Street. This is now called McFerson Commons, or Arch Park. The Ohio State Penitentiary was here 1834-1998. There is a marker for John Hunt Morgan on the acreage. He was a confederate general who stole horses, and was captured. It was the furthest excursion north by the confederates. He and some officers were imprisoned here, and he and six of them tunneled out into the yard, and escaped over the wall. The day of this snap, sunlight was low and in front of me, late in the afternoon of a mid-December day. The field was empty.

Beaux-Arts classicism

 a very tall sign in an Italian Village parking lot, behind St. John the Baptist church

Originally Ohio Central, then Toledo and Ohio Central Railway was active from 1895 to 1930. Again, the harsh afternoon light came to play. Another sight best pictured in the morning, or when the sun is not so low in the west.

The pagoda like tower is next to the elevated rails. 

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* postscriptum 12 January 2024: Coincidence or not, Rex Humbard's congregation was also called 'Calvary Temple' before it became Cathedral of Tomorrow. He was a Pentecostalist in Cuyahoga Falls, who began building a tower. It was stopped after 22 days of construction at 494 feet, because of financial/legal problems.

on or near High Street

 

In Akron, so much interesting things to see are on or near Market Street. In Columbus, it is High Street. There is a lot of more prestigious stuff on Broad Street, like state government, and establishment churches. 

Yesterday, there was a parade for the soccer team winning the season as champions. College age people were still walking about with yellow and black long scarves. The parade crossed High, we were there afterwards. 

Greystone Court Apartments were built in 1920, and there is this picturesque fountain, with four women, lions' heads, winged horses, and a little boy on top. I don't have information on this fountain.

Indian Springs Elementary has two entrances with an Indian head above them. Akron had a school with a stone relief of an Indian, that building has been demolished.

Red Men Sioux Tribe № 128 is part of the national Improved Order of Red Men. It is a social/fraternal lodge. Like the Free Masons they have an invented mythology, and rituals. Their claim is they are descended from the Sons of Liberty from revolutionary Boston. There are now six lodges in Ohio, and more nationwide. As with other such groups, their membership has greatly decreased.

Glen Echo Presbyterian has the Santa Maria above their main entrance.

St. John the Baptist is the Italian parish in Columbus. This Santa Maria is on the sidewalk next to the steps of the entrance. There were three public statues of Christopher Columbus in town. One was in front of City Hall, it has been removed. One was on Columbus State University, it has been removed. There remains the one outside the State Capitol. The three were in walking distance of each other.

 

There was a replica Santa Maria downtown. It was taken apart and put in storage before George Floyd. The murder of Floyd sparked protest about institutional racism. One bête noire was Columbus, another was using an American Indian for a logo, or symbol. Italians take pride in Columbus. The Presbyterian church was a surprise.

St. Patrick is the second oldest Catholic parish in Columbus. This was on their stoop, i had never seen one before. I wonder if there is an Italian term for this. It is not a garbage can, or ashtray for butts. There are holes on top for venting. There are miscellaneous vessels used in services. Censers/thuribles burn incense. A boat has a spoon to place hot coals and incense in the burners. Often these vessels are silver, or bronze. This looks to be a receptacle for the spent coals. Fires have happened when care was not taken.

First Indianola Presbyterian has a pulpit outside an entrance to the building. William Oxley Thompson, D.D. was president of Ohio State from 1899 to 1925. He also was a Presbyterian minister who had engagements in churches about town. From this spot he could directly see fraternities, and preach to/at students. If going about there, be watchful for careless drivers.

Hound Dog Pizza has a Cadillac. I have seen a foto of an earlier, more ritzy Caddie they had. Correct the guess, Matador Red 1963 Coupe de Ville.

This sign is flush against the wall, i have seen a foto where it was mounted 90°, and on bricks.

Nearby was this musical mural.

There are a few arches over High Street. This part of Columbus is called Short North, and for the season 'Pole' was added.

Sunday in December

Sunday morning, Cleveland O. Lake Erie temp 45°F, air about the same

Fungus in a sycamore, looks like a large stoup.

After coming in from the lake.

advent of Cleveland surf

Karma by the Edgewater willow

Thanksgiving time foto safari

Saw this outside the ape and cat house in the Cleveland Zoo. Enjoy the colors of late autumn (November 20th). Anyone confirm Japanese anemone.

Some of the roses of summer have been enduring late autumn, Thanksgiving Thursday by the spigot on St. Casimir's school. It was a cold and sunny day. The next few days are not promising sunny skies. Some days are better for camera use. Photo means light.

Since i was last on the Chinese Cultural Garden platform, they have painted, and patched the railing. In the distance is old Rabbi Silver's temple, now part of Case Western Reserve U.

Well, i find some foto subjects after seeing more active and adventurous photographers show their finds. On the few big holidays we have, there are fewer people around, and foto locations are sometimes easier to snap. Here is my snap of a sign that has reappeared into view on Huron, downtown Cleveland. I am guessing this was painted in the 1950s? Underneath this advert, it seems an earlier is popping out. The rectangles were floors, and supports of a parking garage that was being demolished.