Sunday, February 22, 2015

Brunch Bunch & Church & More

Hey Gang,
Saturday went FAB! Actually Beyond FAB!!

But first my peeve for the week or the day?
This is Cleveland. How many winters have we been through? Most of us have lived here a lifetime, no one actually moves to Cleveland. We all have seen snow before. So I don't understand canceling or staying home because of the snow. That's my peeve.

OK now back to my irregularly scheduled posting. So lets start all over and I'll say once more... Saturday went FAB! Actually Beyond FAB!!

The day started with breakfast at Flavors on the Avenue with the Brunch Bunch. The Brunch Bunch are classmates of Wickliffe High that meet once a month. It was started by Chuck S. and Mary D. helps with the announcements. I am really enjoying reconnecting with old friends and classmates. It's great!

Immediately afterwards I hurried home to meet those that said they would attend the church tour I organized. Only Mike was there and Jamie met us at the church. I was initially very disappointed that only two showed but it actually worked out for the best. I still felt bad though for Father Troha who made time for this tour and was expecting a larger group.

The first church on our list was St. Ignatius of Antioch on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, it is beautiful! Father Troha is terrific. His humor and mannerisms make you feel so relaxed. What he said would be a 20 minute tour actually took over a hour. We just conversed back and forth and since there was no one else it was way more intimate. 







He took us up in the balcony where the organ is and the choir sings. What a view from up there. Father Troha didn't expect or want it but we blessed him with a small monetary gift and a copy of Hey Gang Ready to Go-Go? And YES before you say anything he wanted a copy.

Time was about four so off to the next place on my tour - St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Tremont. This church was in the movie “The Deer Hunter”. Unfortunately we must have had our wires crossed because when we arrived the church was locked. No big deal we proceeded with plan 3 which was just lets see what we can find.

On the way out of St. Theodosius Jamie was telling us of a hot dog joint on Lorain Rd. A little bitty place that looks lost in time. Without planning it I drove in that direction and Jamie said hey there's the hot dog place, Old Fashioned Hot Dogs. So that turned out to be stop 3 for plan 3.

I hate hot dogs so ordered a hamburger. It was OK, not good, not bad, OK but the retro diner feel was a high 10. We had some laughs, the owner put up an ad for the book Hey Gang Ready to Go-Go?, Mike picked up our tab of 11 bucks for 2 hot dogs, 1 hamburger, 1 coffee and 1 cola – not bad and out the door we went.

Earlier in the week I tried to schedule a tour for St. Colman's which is not far from the hot dog house. I was informed tours were only during the week but we could stop in before Mass and look around. I wasn't too keen on this suggestion as it is a place of worship and I wouldn't feel right to be walking around snapping photos. But I headed towards there anyways.
To be continued...

Something to think about.....  I asked a few people if they wanted to come along and the answer was not me in a church! Well if there is no God according to you and its all a myth then whats the problem? Why does it bother you? If anything you should have came just to enjoy these masterpieces that are never to be duplicated again. A lost art in a culture that is close to being lost.

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