The sixth annual WRFA Great American Picnic is set to take place at Southern Tier Brewing Co., celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Summer of Love!

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The event will feature over three hours of live music running from 5 to 9 p.m.

Participating acts include:

• Cold Lazarus
• Ken Hardley and the Moose Club
• Bill Ward
• John Merino
• Gary Peters Jr.
• and more!

The performances will also be recorded and broadcast on WRFA in the coming weeks.

The cost to attend is $20 and includes two courtesy beers from Southern Tier. Anyone under 21 is admitted free of charge. All proceeds will benefit WRFA.

Tickets can be purchased ahead of time online, at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts box office, or at the brewery the day of the event.

The fifth annual WRFA Great American Picnic is set to take place at Southern Tier Brewing Co. with a theme of Music from the American South. Hosted by Ken Hardley of Rolling Hills Radio, the event will feature three hours of live music running from noon to 3 p.m.

Performers include:

• John Merino (Noon-12:20)
• Bill Ward (12:25-12:45)
• Bumpy Peterson (12:50-1:10)
• The Short Bus (1:15-1:35)
• Elektra Kings (1:40-2:00)
• Bogarts (2:05-2:25)
• Cindy Love and Ken Hardley and the Moose Club (2:30-2:50)

The performances will also be recorded and broadcast on WRFA in the coming weeks.

There is no cost to attend. Instead, a portion of all proceeds collected by Southern Tier Brewing Co. between Noon and 3 p.m. will go directly toward WRFA.

The WRFA advisory board will also be on hand selling hot dogs, WRFA T-Shirts, and 50/50 tickets. Donations will also be accepted. All ages are welcome.

It’s the Great American Picnic: Songs from the American South – happening this Sunday, June 5 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Southern Tier Brewing Co.

AMERICAN CHRONICLES: Impractical Cats
Copyright: John C. Merino 2016

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Originally airing March 18, 2016

When I stop to think about it, Miss Dolan was at fault. She was my 5^th grade teacher at 17^th Street School…a former Army WAC Sergeant in WWII…she managed 10 year olds like a room full of recruits.

She taught the three R’s of course, and once a week made all the boys polish their shoes with paste wax. In the 1950’s, you couldn’t wear sneakers or jeans to school. No T-Shirts either. You had to have a collared shirt.

We practiced Air Raid drills once a week by jumping under our desks when the alarm went off, and looked forward to June because she always gave her class a “Roast Beef on Weck” party to celebrate the close of the school year. She was tough alright, but introduced us to poetry by reading from T.S. Elliott’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. I still have a copy in my collection.

That, I suppose, is why I’ve mostly chosen cats over dogs during the course of my lifetime. I’ve had a couple dogs that lived long lives (Sebastian & Pudge), both mutts from the SPCA…but there were always cats too.

Midnight was the first. When I found her wandering the street on the way home from the Big Pool one summer, she couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old. I picked her up, held her in one hand and told my mother she followed me the whole way.

I was allowed to keep her and later that summer when my father started the lawn mower, she was jolted from her sleep on the front porch rail and darted in to the street, where a 48 Desoto hit her and that was that.

Several years later, when I returned from my wanderings across the country, I got my first apartment….a cold water three story walk up on the corner of 18^th Street and Ontario Avenue….across from the pet store. A handwritten sign in the window said “Free Kittens.”

The one I chose was all grey. I named her Delores Del Streeto. I bought her a red collar, flea powder and food. She was street wise alright, never attempting to cross if there was a car within a block of her. When I’d get home from work she’d be waiting by the door for diner. She talked a lot…always something to say.

She didn’t look any fatter to me, but one morning when I woke; there was a liter of six kittens at the foot of the bed. I never heard a thing. I gave them all away, but for one little tough guy I named Junior Del Streeto. He was black and white…broad shouldered and tall. So now it was me and the Del Streeto’s…Delores and Junior.

A couple years later, we moved out to a cottage on Lake Ontario. It was attached to a green house that hadn’t been in use for decades. Delores and Junior loved the lake. They’d walk the beach together, playing with the dead fish that washed up, chased the squirrels and prowled the greenhouse in search of mice.

Delores got ill. The Vet said she had cat leukemia and when she passed, I buried her in an old tool box, wrapped in a towel, under a fir tree next to the cottage, carving her name in the bark with my pocket knife.

I stopped there several months ago to see if the cottage was still standing. It was and the greenhouse was thriving. Her name is barely visible now. After all, it has been a little over 40 years.

The following winter, the furnace died and the property owner simply told me he couldn’t afford to fix it so I’d have to move. Junior and I headed back to the city. We found an apartment on Main Street in an old Victorian house that had been cut up in to four units.

It was owned by Dr. Walker, whose home and office were next door. He was the anti-war doc. Dozens of draft age boys would get their medical draft deferment letters from him in the early days of Viet Nam. He would find something wrong with you…even if you didn’t know it.

The apartment behind me, facing the alley, was occupied by an Alabama red neck, his wife and daughter. He’d moved to Niagara Falls to work as a laborer on the Power Project and never left.

They were nice enough, but he hated Junior. When he’d get home from work, Junior took to jumping up on the hood of his El Camino. It was warm and a purrrr-fect place for a nap.

When Junior disappeared for a few days, I asked the red neck if he’d seen him. “Nope” he said, but the following afternoon his daughter who was only 8 or 10 told me that her daddy had taken my cat for a ride in the car. He wouldn’t own up to it….said he knew nothing about it….but I heard him yelling at her and she was crying.

I went to the hardware and bought a gallon of oil based navy blue paint. It took him weeks to buff it off, rubbing on a small spot every day when he got home from work.

He knew it was me and I knew it was him.

On the chance Junior had just been dropped off on the other side of town, I went to the SPCA to see if he might be there.

I walked into the cat room and called his name. There were 20 or 30 cats in a long row of cages. In the end cage a paw came out between the bars when I called “Junior”. It looked like him to me, so I sprung him and took him home.

The girl I was dating at the time said it wasn’t Junior.

I was in denial for a week but finally understood. It wasn’t Junior. I called him “GI”…the Great Imposter. When I finally let him out a couple weeks later he never came back, (but as cats will), he left me a dead mouse on the back stoop as a thank you gift for aiding in his escape from the SPCA.

Since then, I’ve had nothing but house cats. Among them was Azalea Mae Von Bulow whose name was later changed to Azalea Mae West after Klaus Von Bulow was arrested in Rhode Island for trying to murder his wife. I didn’t want her to be stigmatized.

Then there was Mitzi who lived 15 years, Lucy who still lives in Niagara County and is 13 and Cleo who wakes me up every morning around 4:00 AM by pawing my face until I scratch her head. I’m up before dawn seven days a week. She’d have it no other way.

There are neighborhood cats that prowl my backyard in the early morning, triggering the motion detector light on the garage and Tink down the street who follows behind her owner when the dogs are being walked. Tink likes to hang out in my yard in the summer, especially when I’m doing my gardening.

Obviously, I like cats…their independence and look, their getting out of the way just in time, the purr and swagger of them.

As T.S. Eliot wrote:

“The naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have three different names”

I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.

AMERICAN CHRONICLES: AT RANDOM
Copyright: John C. Merino 2016

Originally airing Feb. 19, 2016

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This may be a long list. I honestly have no idea. I just started thinking about so many different things at once, none of which fit together, that I thought I may as well get it off my chest, so to speak………here goes!

• I’m completely fed up with national politics, politicians, pundits, and those who believe they have something “all knowing” to offer us. You know what they say about opinions
• I’m tired of “Letter’s to the Editor” from ministers of one ilk or another, quoting scripture and somehow managing to equate it with what they believe is a direct correlation to some catastrophic world event, misguided presidential effort or hidden message the rest of us are missing. Enough already. Save it for your pulpit and keep it out of my morning paper.
• I like the mayor. I think he’s done and is doing a good job for this community. Talk about two year terms and that perhaps it’s time for a change is bogus.
• There are way too many pictures in the paper of people patting themselves on the back for doing what their supposed to do….their job.
• Use your signals when you’re going to make a turn, will ya….and the law is you must signal at least 50 feet before your turn. Putting your blinker on when you’re in the process of turning does nothing for other drivers nor does it meet the legal requirements.
• I don’t want our local police department to merge with anybody. I like the responsibility being right where it is…..in town. Having had experience merging two police departments some 25 years ago as Police Commissioner of Lewiston, N.Y. I can tell you it does not save money, if that’s the objective….and if our coverage’s are working, we don’t need city officers directed from the county seat. Stop wasting time and study something else like county wide recycling and electric cars for all government uses. Something that actually can save money.
• Stop showing these heart wrenching animal cruelty commercials in the middle of an otherwise interesting TV program. My cat doesn’t like them any more than I do. OK, I’ll send a check.
• Why is it that the guy in the neighborhood with the smallest driveway and least amount of sidewalk has the largest snow blower?
• How did Jamestown which has much more in common with Buffalo, end up Gerrymandered in a congressional district with Ithaca. Absolutely illogical, except for the fact that conservatives want to forever control the county.
• …and why is it that in New York State citizens cannot offer “Ballot Propositions”. California permits it and they haven’t collapsed yet.
• Did you know that more money is spent every year on pet food then feeding poor children in America? Heard that on the radio the other day.
• Why is it no one ever mentions Sonny Bono….ya know, just in passing?
• Hey Apple……help the FBI gain access to the San Bernardino terrorists’ cell phone. You’re not making friends
• That’s enough…….talk at ya again next week.

I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.

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There is no question that the Chautauqua Institution is not only a gift to our county, but so too, deserves the world class reputation it has earned over more than a century as a seat for intellectual discourse and creative artistic presentations.

You’d be hard pressed to find any other center of learning like it, anywhere in the world.

…and the announcement earlier this week of the end of year retirement of its president, Tom Becker, should give us pause to reflect on his accomplishments and say to him as a community, “Thank you”.

I am troubled, however, by the planned demolition of the historic amphitheater in order to replace it with a modern version. I have followed the discussion for the past year, as presented in the media, as proponents of restoration have built….I believe….a strong case for retaining the existing theater and rehabbing it at a much less expensive price tag than the new plan calls for….A reported $42 million.

Here are my thoughts.

One thing that has always challenged me about the Institution is their limited interaction with Jamestown and the missed opportunities to develop “off-season” programming for a population of children largely economically disadvantaged.

Though over the years, they have solicited and received monies from the Jamestown based Foundation community (in the millions I might add) my personal experience some 12 years ago when I first came to our community to serve as CEO of the Gebbie Foundation, troubles me to this day.

I was invited to and attended a luncheon with their senior staff and a few board members. Being new to the position and only having a cursory knowledge of the Institutions value and import, it was suggested by my bosses that I accept the invitation, visit the Institution and ask a simple question.

That question was, “what can we do to have the Institution program more broadly in the Jamestown community, especially in the “off-season?”

The response I received was unanimous….as several persons attending the luncheon spoke to the same basic answer.

“To experience Chautauqua, one needed to be inside the walls of the Institution”

What troubles me about that idea is that “one” would think, that given their reputation and stature around the world, they would look at their local role in broader terms….feel some level of responsibility to help uplift and educate those children who might otherwise go a lifetime without hearing a concert, see a ballet or learning from the lecture series…all of which are unparalleled.

To give them credit, they have partnered with the Reg Lena, the Jackson Center, WRFA and many other local organizations for decades….yet, off season programming designed to nurture and expand the minds of Jamestown’s most vulnerable citizens (our children) has been relatively non-existent.

Is it their job to play a part in such an effort? I believe it is. After all, they are a part of our community, too.

If it was possible to raise some $42 million to replace the historic amphitheater from donors who believe that it is the correct step to take, then how tough would it be to create an “off-season” fund for specially designed programming benefitting the community’s children….in effect playing an important role in building new generations of local residents whose appreciation of the arts and letters presented there, guarantee future supporters…..and wouldn’t it help build better citizens in the long run?

Whenever legacies are discussed….regardless of the individual or organization being touted at the time, those who will stand out are not the ones who confine their efforts to a limited constituency, but rather reach out to those whose need for those gifts is obvious…and well outside a limited definition of who their beneficiaries are.

Experiencing Chautauqua should not be limited to what happens inside the walls of the Institution…especially for children who will never see a play, lecture, dance, concert or any other of the wonderful offerings presented there, unless nurtured to appreciate.

Because so much financial support has been awarded to them by Jamestown based foundations for decades, and in order to play a part in building a stronger local community, choose instead to rehabilitate and restore the existing historic amphitheater and take a few of the millions raised to teach our children during their school year (the institution’s off season).

Open the gates to Chautauqua’s valuable programming…let it out for our children to experience.

Legacy is built and sustained by the gifts that are given to those who otherwise will never know…and without the Chautauqua Institution reaching out in a generous way, many of our children will never know….and ultimately….care even less.

I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.

American Chronicles is a bi-weekly locally produced feature on WRFA written and produced by retired Gebbie Foundation CEO, John C. Merino. Currently, John is an Adjunct Professor of Micro-Economics, Organizational Management, and 20th Century World History at Mercyhurst University. American Chronicles airs twice monthly, Friday mornings at 7:15 and Friday Afternoons at 4:35. American Chronicles features original stories (partly fact and partly fiction), commentary on local, state , national, world conditions and more.

Find past episodes at www.wrfalp.com/tag/american-chronicles/

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I don’t know about you, but I find that this time of year brings out the best…….and sometimes the most annoying sides of people’s desire to be “Politically Correct”.

Let’s take a visit to any store or shop, looking for the perfect gift for your loved ones, for example.

When is the last time you actually had a cashier make change without looking to the register screen to see how much you were due? It just doesn’t happen. Most can’t count….and just as we used to learn to write cursive in school, making change is an art that is no longer taught either….therefore it no longer exists….

…..and heaven forbid you reach in to the penny cup at the counter to pay the 3 cents your charge calls for……….well watch what happens. The look of confusion and embarrassment that runs across the cashier’s face……especially if the bill is $6.33 cents…..is just priceless.

You hand them a $20.00 bill, a $1.00 dollar bill and grab 3 pennies from the courtesy cup. Well…..be prepared to wait twenty minutes………and don’t be surprised if they have to call the manager for assistance…….and all of this simply because you’d prefer to have a $10.00 dollar bill and a $5.00 dollar bill as change, because you already have a bill fold packed with ones.

……..and how about the “new” standard seasonal greeting…. “Happy Holidays”…….and what holiday might that be, I thought…. The Fourth of July?

I asked a young woman behind the counter at the mall the other day why she didn’t say “Merry Christmas” especially when the chocolate Santa stocking stuffers were piled 10 deep and 10 high next to the register where she was standing. Ready for the answer………..”We’re not allowed to say that”. “What”, I said…….”why not”

…….”because we might offend someone, I guess” she told me. I couldn’t believe it. We’ve become so worried about political correctness that saying Merry Christmas has become a possible offense…….so retailers have added that to their personnel policies so as not to open the door for a law suit or worse……..someone overreacting to the holiday’s well wishes and storming out of the shop. Go figure.

What I especially don’t like this time of year is having to worry about knowing what greeting to utter……depending of course…..on with what company one might find themselves.

Happy Kwanza for my African American friends who celebrate this holiday, Happy Hanukkah for my Jewish pals, for the Buddhists I know (and yes I know quite a few)…Happy Bodhi Day, Happy Id al-Adha for the two practicing Muslims in my circle of friends, Have a great Winter Solstice I keep in mind for our one Wiccan Friend, how about Happy Festivus for my friend George who hasn’t been able to go a single day in two decades without watching reruns of Seinfeld, and I don’t know any Japanese folks, but just in case……Happy Omisoka.

…….and how about this one………..Merry Krismas……..spelled: K-R-I-S-M-A-S for those Agnostic, Atheist and Deist folks we run into from time to time……..and the Neopagan’s celebrate Saturnalia……you know, a seven day feast worshiping the ancient gods of Rome………these folks are everywhere so be prepared.

It’s all too much. From now on I’m not saying anything remotely connected to a seasonal celebration………..

………I’m going to revert to that old standby……the one we all say…..the phrase which tends to annoy everybody……everywhere……all the time…….and is probably the most spoken phrase in the English language……….”Have a Nice Day”……so sue me!

Damn that Forest Gump anyway.

I’m John Merino and this is American Chronicles.

American Chronicles is a bi-weekly locally produced feature on WRFA written and produced by retired Gebbie Foundation CEO, John C. Merino. Currently, John is an Adjunct Professor of Micro-Economics, Organizational Management, and 20th Century World History at Mercyhurst University. American Chronicles airs twice monthly, Friday mornings at 7:15 and Friday Afternoons at 4:35. American Chronicles features original stories (partly fact and partly fiction), commentary on local, state , national, world conditions and more.

Find past episodes at www.wrfalp.com/tag/american-chronicles/