MOC-10-Day-11-Where-I-Live

JOURNALING
Ohio, the Heart of it All
Way back in 1962, I went to the movies to see Frank Sinatra in the classic political thriller “The Manchurian Candidate.” Frank Sinatra and Janet Leigh have a scene on a train between railroad cars. Their characters have just met and are getting to know each other.
Leigh (as Eugenie Rose Chaney) says, “Maryland is a beautiful state.”
Sinatra (as Bennett Marco) replies, “This is Delaware.”
Leigh: “I know, I was one of the original Chinese workmen who made the track on this stretch. But, em... nonetheless, Maryland is a beautiful state. So is Ohio for that matter.”
Sinatra: “I guess so, Columbus is a tremendous football town.”
I’ve never forgotten that line. Those were the “Woody Hayes” days at THE Ohio State University and the football team he coached for 28 seasons had a 205-61-10 record. His team won 5 National titles, 13 Big Ten championships, went to the Orange Bowl once and the Rose Bowl 8 times. 58 of his players won “All American” honors. Yes. College football was just about “it” for my hometown.
But, in the 60 years since, we’ve added a lot more than “gridiron” to this town.
In 1996, we became home to the first REAL “futbol” team in Major League Soccer, the Columbus Crew. And three years later, the team owner at the time, Lamar Hunt, built the first stadium specifically for soccer in this country, now known as “Historic Crew Stadium.” (1)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (2) established his multi-sport “Arnold Sports Festival” here in 1989 and it has grown to be the second-most prestigious event in men’s professional body building. Heck. Since 2008 there has even been an Ice Curling club and facility in the city.
The Ohio Theatre (3) is a 1928 building which used to be a downtown movie “palace.” In 1969, it was saved from demolition, completely restored, and turned into a performing arts center. Designed by renowned architect Thomas Lamb (designer of NY City’s Ziegfeld Theatre, Paramount Hotel, and Madison Square Garden III) it is considered one of the finest examples of his work and has been dubbed the “Official Theatre of the State of Ohio.” The Columbus Symphony calls it “home” as well as BalletMet and Opera Columbus.
There are numerous sculptures around my city by the prolific Holocaust survivor Alfred (nee: Goldstein) Tibor.
My favorite is “Celebration of Life” (4) depicting Arthur Boke, the first black child born in Franklinton, OH (the progenitor of Columbus).
Some of the other pieces of art are a bit more idiosyncratic, such as Grant Wood’s “American Gothic” couple on
the side of a downtown building (5); or the 109 concrete ears of corn in “Field of Corn (with Osage Orange
Trees)” (6) by Malcolm Cochran located in the Columbus suburb of Dublin; or the 7-story, basket-shaped
office building on the outskirts of nearby Newark OH that was once the headquarters of the
now-defunct Longaberger Basket Co. (7)
Columbus. No longer JUST a “tremendous football town.”
CREDITS: KITS: "Ohio Cut-Outs" by Scrapping With Liz; "On The Road" and "Sporty-Soccer" by Kristin Aagard; "Gridiron" by Forever Joy; "Homes for the Holidays" by Rosie's Designs; FONT: Oldnewspaper type; FIVE ITEMS: soccer ball; football charm; Interstate 70 sign; cardinal; Ohio cutout
JOURNALING: 500 words