EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS with the legendary Gordie Howe & Toledo Walleye’s Coach Nick Vitucci
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HOCKEY HEART off the ice
page 6-7
LOCAL
BEYOND
EXTRA
Farming in the city, page 3
Recovering from horror, waiting for more, page 3
Poetry, page 5
Because 1Matters: Church dismissed, page 4 HELP-Portrait Toledo, page 4
Shay Kelley’s 50 states in 50 weeks mission, page 8
Living Faith, page 9 Hoboscopes, page 11
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Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Issue #11
Making justice social:
“Social justice” is a personal practice, not an abstract idea Amanda F. Moore, Managing Editor We’d like to thank you for purchasing this copy of Toledo Streets. We hope you’re enjoying it and discovering a new facet of your community. Please continue to support our vendors when you get the chance. For other ways to support them and the paper, contact us or visit our website for more details. Toledo Streets is a monthly publication called a street paper. We are part of a worldwide movement of street papers that seeks to provide simple economic opportunities to homeless individuals and those experiencing poverty. Our vendors purchase each paper for 25¢, and ask for a dollar donation. In exchange for their time and effort in selling the paper, they keep the difference. They are asking for a handup, not a hand out. By purchasing this paper, you have helped someone struggling to make it. Not just in terms of money, but also in the dignity of doing something for themselves. Many thanks again! We are a non-profit organization operating under a 501(c)3 fiscal agent. This means that any donations made to us c/o 1Matters.org (our fiscal agent) are tax deductible - not to mention greatly appreciated. Our mission is to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to participate on a new level in the community through self-employment, job training, and contributorship.
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I
’m ready for winter to be over. 2010 was a very hard year for so many people I care about, and I was looking to 2011 to be kinder to my friends. So far... not so much. We need a change of season. It’s easy to know injustice exists in our world—evidence to point to is all around us. But we tend to fit even injustice into a stereotype, no matter how compassionate we are. And so, when injustice suddenly becomes personal in the circumstances of ourselves or those we love, there is shock and indignation. What’s worse is when the injustice is legal. Our system is simply that—a system, impersonal and unconcerned with what is fair. Does it fall into the black and white letter of the law? No? Then you have nothing. And so it has been that in the first two months of 2011, I—along with a small troop of others—found myself praying and packing for a dear friend
who lost his family home in others’ blinding greed and incomprehensible (and reprehensible) refused to be flexible. In this light, the cold light of rigid legal systems and cruel materialism, my friend’s situation has been extremely frustrating and heartbreaking. His friends, while physically busy helping him sort, pack and move, have had to otherwise stand helplessly by him with a kind of ridiculously ineffectual outrage. There have been no words... In another light, the welcoming light of love and readiness to support, my friend’s situation has been a miracle of social justice. In a short space of time, a great deal of work was done by a few passionate people. My friend found himself, though in the midst of losing a family home, coming home to family—a family of friends who would do anything for each other. There really have been no words...
You’re now a part of a local, social microenterprise program. It’s simple...
Fortunately, my friend is the kind of person who chooses to look at things in the best light possible. It’s his example that keeps me trusting in the power of community to step in where systems fail to make right the wrongs, proving... THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SMALL CHANGE.
Cover photo: Shawn Kellerbauer
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hile Toledo Streets is a non-profit, and paper vendors are considered contracted self-employers, we still have expectations of how vendors should conduct themselves while selling and representing the paper. The following list is our Vendor Code of Conduct, which every vendor reads through and signs before receiving a badge and papers. This Code is also printed on the back of each badge. We request that if you discover a vendor violating any tenets of the Code, please contact us and provide as many details as possible. Our paper and our vendors should be positively impacting the city. All vendors must agree to the following code of conduct: • Toledo Streets will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $1. I agree not to ask for more or less than a dollar or solicit donations for
Toledo Streets by any other means. • I will only purchase the paper from Toledo Streets staff and will not sell papers to other vendors (outside of the office volunteers). • I agree to treat all others— customers, staff, other vendors— respectfully, and I will not “hard sell,” threaten or pressure customers. • I agree to stay off private property when selling Toledo Streets. • I understand I am not a legal employee of Toledo Streets but a contracted worker responsible for my own well-being and income. • I agree to not sell any additional goods or products when selling the paper.
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Issue #11
Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Recovering from horror, waiting for more
An open letter to Toledo’s urban farmers Mike Elkin
William James O’Fahey
R Imed Halissa Seli. Photo: Mike Elkin
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he walls outside the Al-Jalah Hospital in downtown Bengazi are covered with posters of missing persons, mostly teenagers and young men who disappeared after the protests began. Inside, hundreds of gunshot victims recover from the street battle between Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and Benghazi’s citizens. Al-Jalah, the only emergency hospital in the city with neuro and orthopaedic surgeons, received most of the victims of the carnage. On Saturday February 19, Adel Al Salini, 29, was on way to the cemetery to bury his older brother Ayet, who had been killed the day earlier by Gaddafi’s men. As they got out of the cars, mercenaries in camouflage uniforms started shooting at the mourners. Adel was hit just under the right rib, and his liver and kidneys were damaged. Doctors operated on him, leaving a long scar down the middle of his stomach, but he will make a full recovery. “Alhamdulilah,” he said, the Arabic expression for, “thank god”. Imed Halissa Seli, 31, lives in a neighbourhood next to an army base. On the same Saturday he started hearing shouting and shooting outside, and he went out to see what was happening. “Some Libyan and black African men in long, black coats were climbing over the base wall into the streets,” he said.
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“They started shooting at anyone they could see. I was hit. Residents hid until the mercenaries went into the middle of the street, and then everyone attacked them from all sides with rocks, swords and axes. We caught one of them and turned him over to the Bengazi security committee.” Shot in the back of the neck, Seli had to wait seven days for surgery because there were other patients with more serious injuries ahead of him. Doctors have told the Red Cross that 256 people were killed and 2,000 injured in Benghazi during the uprising. At the hospital morgue, forensic doctors said they had little room to work, with all the bodies being wheeled in. The bodies of two of Gaddafi’s mercenaries -one apparently Libyan, one from another African country -are still rotting. Forensic experts are also working on identifying the charred remains of nine soldiers who allegedly were shot and burned because they refused to fire on the people. Three masked doctors sifted through one black mass - roughly the neck to the upper thigh of one soldier. Using a small, circular drill, one doctor cut into the femur to extract bone that will be tested for DNA. Eight other bodies in green body bags sit on the floor in an adjacent room. “We need to do this to identify “Horror” continued on page 10
egarding new power plants and factories along Lake Erie, my Columbus based company is seeking lakeside property for our high-growth industry. It’s a good deal for Toledo. Toledo gets ten full-time management jobs and about one hundred revolving temporary and part-time jobs. All we are asking as incentive is that we can void a very small yearly tonnage of our industrial residues into Lake Erie. I am aware that private citizens could face prosecution for dumping even a wheelbarrow full of clean dirt into the lake, but corporations need a malleable regulatory environment for free markets to succeed. I am appealing directly to the citizens of Toledo in this “Letter to the Editor” because NEW JOBS ARE AT STAKE! Our company must have the freedom to draw a few thousand gallons of water a day from the lake and to return a very small yearly tonnage of low toxicity effluent to the lake as well. Electric plants such as the Whiting and Bayshore Coal Plants already do this, so why should they have exclusive rights to excrete industrial residues into the lake?
And yes, thousands of fish and larvae may be sucked through lakeside intakes of our waterdrawing pipes every week, and yes, private citizens can be prosecuted for catching even one more perch or pickerel than the half-dozen or so daily bag limit…but the Davis Besse and Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plants may have killed millions of fish in the same way. So, again, why exclusive rights for those plants and not us? A columnist for your Toledo Streets Newspaper has written that, “lakeside cities and industries have treated Lake Erie as a toilet for decades” (William James O’Fahey, T.S.N., March 2010). But I do not see Lake Erie as a toilet. Lake Erie is an industrial resource that should be efficiently utilized as a water supply and dump-out pool for the vital industries of this high-tech age. Mr. Rich Whiteman Founder and CEO Chemslic/Bul-Tech Industries 36 Shady Buckeye Path Columbus, Ohio 43232 W.J. O’Fahey may be reached through his website at www.amishcountrydoctors.com, or on Facebook as Amish Country Doctors.
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Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Because 1Matters:
HELP-Portrait Toledo:
Church dismissed
Ken Leslie
I
went to church on a recent Sunday in the basement of a museum at the zoo and nobody knew we were at church– including me. The occasion was the wrap up meeting of the 40 or so Toledo Zoo Teens who were just completing a 30-hour famine. Promoted by World Vision, the famine is an exercise used by youth groups worldwide to “teach them about hunger.” Bill Davis, the Zoo Teen youth leader, had invited me to debrief the students and help them extract and share any lessons from the experience. Bill is, in my opinion, one of the two best youth leaders in our community. The Zoo Teen program is sponsored by the Toledo Zoo to foster youth’s interest in animals and in supporting the Zoo. Bill has developed a program that includes–actually requires– 20% or so of the student’s involvement in service be to the community, such as visiting senior centers or helping the unhoused. In other words, Bill is teaching them “Zoo-Manity.” I had done many of these and my modus operandi was to hang out as I normally hang out and ask them “How they felt”, or “What did you learn” and build the program from their answers. Usually the message they walk away with is “It sucks to be hungry and poor” and “We fasted for 30 hours, but what about the children who go hungry for 30 weeks, or those who hunger for 30 years?” Valid lessons, all. But not this time. This time the message chilled us all to the bone, to the inner souls. We got churched! An idea which could only have come from God, this time I brought something with me: a big bag. After the introductions, I pulled a chair to the center of their circle. I told them I completely empathized and understood their hunger and how much it sucks to be hungry….and then I began removing the contents hidden in that bag. As I pulled the contents from the bag, a universal groan began to fill the room. Behold students! Behold the two large bags of McDonalds’ I removed from the bag, as I reiterated my empathy for their hunger. “OMG, you are so mean” was
Issue #11
the general message the students added to their groans. With all the elitist disdain I could muster, I asked, “What do you mean? Forget you guys! I have the ability to get food and you don’t, so what? Tough crap kids.” The tone responding to my indifference and cruelty in bringing such a meal to 40 starving high school teenagers was at first slight amusement. But the tone grew a little angrier as I opened one of the bags and worked the circle holding it under the nose of every student. Halfway through the circle I told them, “This is my Mercedes, how do you like it? I got it, you don’t?” Then some in the second half refused to smell the bag. I returned to my chair and pulled out my Egg McMuffin and hash brown and set them on my lap. Then, I slowly removed the three LARGE RED ORDERS of French fries from the bag and set them down. I looked at them all and asked, “What? What are you looking at? So what? It’s all mine, I earned it!” I slowly and lovingly opened my breakfast sandwich. I took a huge bite, and with my mouth completely full, then asked, “So, what did you all learn from the fast?” No answer. I just looked around the circle for a while. After another huge bite I again asked with my mouth full, “Seriously, what did you learn?” The only answers I got were the glares on their faces. “What’s wrong? What are you feeling? It’s ok, you can be honest.” After a long awkward silence and another gluttonous bite of my hash brown, one finally responded with an answer, “Jealousy.” “Envy,” came from the other side of the circle. “Anger!” came from another. I repeated their answers, “Jealousy, envy, anger. Seriously? Wow! Tough crap kiddies, I don’t care. Get your own.” From behind me came some very frank, brave, honesty when a boy said. “I want to just take it from you.” Read that again and ponder his answer for a minute. I knew then that they were almost where they needed to be to learn the real lessons I was trying to teach. “Church” continued on page 9
Area photographer organizes event for families in extreme poverty
William James O’Fahey
Photographer Michelle Ellis captures a family moment during HELP-Portrait Toledo. Photo: Kam Gill
“T
his is the first time we’ve ever had a picture of us taken together…” So was the reflection of a Toledo area mother after receiving a studio portrait with her young daughter, courtesy of Toledo Help-Portrait. Help-Portrait is a movement of photographers and like minded people around the world, who use their time, equipment and expertise to give something back to the community during the holiday season. There are struggling families and individuals in our neighborhoods who have never had a portrait taken of themselves. On December 4th, 2010, over 60 Toledo Help-Portrait volunteers assisted in photographing 309 people and presenting them with their portraits, free of charge. The event was held at the Toledo-Lucas County Main Library in downtown Toledo. Toledo Help-Portrait began when Toledo area photographer, Robin Sulier-Charney, became aware of an international movement of volunteers. It began with an idea circulated on the internet by Nashville photographer Jeremy Cowart. Cowart’s vision was simple: Find someone in need, take their portrait, print their portrait and give it to them. For Robin, this type of photography was already a calling. She often spends Saturday mornings in downtown Toledo photographing people, many of whom are unhoused and who live in extreme poverty. She delivers those pictures back into
the hands of the people whom she photographs. This started with Robin attending the weekly Food For Thought gatherings on the lawn of the downtown library. Distributing up to 500 lunches every Saturday, Food For Thought is an organization that, along with participating churches and community groups, comes together with people of all economic backgrounds to share a sack lunch and conversation. Robin reflects, “‘Leadership meets compassion in the heart of the city,’ that’s my friend Steve North’s personal mission statement, and I share his vision. Like Steve, I see extreme poverty and houselessness as curable social ills. The key to the cure is compassion. My photography has taken on deeper meaning for me… that of catalyst for social change. My camera is an instrument for furthering this ministry of compassion and love.” Robin’s first experience with the transforming power of photography occurred in the 90’s while teaching infant massage to unhoused and at-risk mothers. Teaching these classes, she learned that many of these mothers had never been photographed with their children. So, it seemed natural for Robin to take such pictures and make them available to the mothers at no charge. “Infant massage enhances the bonding between parent and child… the photographs were an extension, a demonstration of what had occurred.” Robin still meets mothers who were profoundly impacted by these photos and that experience. Robin continues, “For many of “HELP” continued on page 6
Issue #11
Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Page 5
Poetry Found My Way
The Nest
So here I am Set me free cleanse my soul make me who you want me to be
Softly spoken message of love, Fair of face—delivered with grace From Father’s Word—the treasure trove— Slipped over us all like glove And slowly filled the place.
I have no more options on this deadbeat path free me from anguish don’t let me look back
Then elder queen took up the song, Experienced voice—ringing true— Touching each woman in the throng, Embracing us all, weak and strong. “God loves you—God loves YOU!!!”
Stand here beside me show me the way I’m lost without you help me today
When no human man even cares— Family has no time to call— The Devil’s caught us unawares, Surrounded by his worldly snares. Yet Jesus loves us all???
Looking for something You’re all that I find I know I need something and I am so blind
The Holy Spirit does inspire, And one by one the teardrops flow. We are drenched with heavenly fire. Eneveloped in the Godly pyre Our souls begin to glow.
Nowhere to turn I have nothing more to give Keep me strong Teach me how to live
The crescendo reaches its peak; We release our pain to Jesus. In tongues sisters begin to speak— Our lives no longer seem so bleak: “God loves us—God loves US!!!”
Keeping you close I’m looking around All I see is darkness No other choices to be found So now I’m here In this place All I feel is you but I don’t see your face But I know you’re here each and every day Waiting for me to follow I’m looking for the way So many others They’re suffering too And now I’ve lost it Because I know it’s you Here of all places In your very house I’ve questioned and doubted and looked for a way out But there’s no other options You’re all there is I see nothing more I know what I’ve been waiting for It’s you It’s always been I can see it now and I never want to leave again
Lindsay Mahaney
Sonya P.
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Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Issue #11
Gordie Howe on poverty, family & Toledo
T
PART I
here are sports institutions and personalities in Michigan who transcend the game; remember Tiger Stadium, Sparky Anderson, Ty Cobb, Ernie Harwell, and Hank Greenberg; think Michigan – Ohio State rivalry, Bo Schembechler, and the recent big chill hockey game at Michigan Stadium; the traditional Thanksgiving day parade in Detroit is followed by Lion’s football (however maddening); remember Joe Louis versus Max Schmelling, and remember the arena that bears Joe’s name…you might even think there’s something timeless about the Red Wings and the Tigers and the Spartans and the Wolverines…and it is in this timeless way that hockey legend Gordie Howe transcends the game! The rugged number Nine from Saskatchewan broke NHL records and won Stanley Cup Championships on his way to the Hall of Fame, but Gordie Howe has become more than this. Gordie Howe played five decades in professional hockey. This meant that other legendary players like Tony Esposito, Guy Lefleur, and Wayne Gretzky not only admired Gordie Howe the hockey player when they were kids, but they later played with Howe as pros. In this role as a sort of brawling elder statesman, Gordie Howe has emerged as hockey’s symbolic ambassador to the world. And he’s ours…Gordie Howe played in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings, our team. Our grandfathers and our grandmothers watched Gordie Howe play, and our fathers and mothers watched Gordie Howe play. This gives Gordie a kind of timelessness. Like Bo Schembechler, Sparky Anderson, Ernie Harwell, Joe Louis, or the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, Gordie Howe
connects us to our grandparents and parents, and other family and friends, in a way that lives-on-still even after their earthly souls have long departed. Not to get too sappy, but it’s kinda like church. Like the liturgical prayers or hymns sung for hundreds and thousands of years. It’s not ancestor worship, but we share a collective memory of personalities like Schembechler and Harwell and Anderson and Louis… Gordie Howe belongs to that canon of Michigan sports legends who bind our community identity across economic, and racial, and political lines…Gordie Howe is one for the ages!
n a recent Sunday afternoon, two friends had the privilege of talking with one of the greatest hockey players to ever compete in the NHL, the legendary Detroit Red Wing forward, Gordie Howe. Although he had a reputation for being “mean as a snake” on the ice, off the ice, Gordie is to this day, a kind and gracious gentleman. The whole time we were together, his little dog “Rocket,” named after his great Montreal Canadien rival, Maurice “Rocket” Richard, sat quietly on his lap, never moving an inch. Gordie is surrounded by family on this
Sunday afternoon, and he smiles and engages our questions in a way that makes us visitors feel like family too… Mr. Howe reminisced about his childhood days in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Gordie Howe grew up knowing what poverty was. Early in his childhood Gordie’s family had no indoor plumbing and no central heating, and had to endure the brutal Canadian winters without these amenities. He told us how he would walk miles to the nearest well and carry buckets of water on his shoulders back to his family’s farmhouse. Over a plate of warm oatmeal cookies and milk, Gordie recalled that there were days back in Saskatchewan when family meals consisted of oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and supper. Sometimes they could scrounge up something more substantial. “So enamored with the game of hockey was young Mr. Howe that his mom, Katherine, gave up all hope of getting her son to doff his skates for lunch. But he would simply trudge into the kitchen from a nearby pond—newspaper strategically placed to prevent damage to the linoleum—and quickly inhale a sandwich before taking stick in hand and returning to the ice… From such dedication, a hockey hero was born… At first, Howe skated on one foot, forced to share the pair of skates his family purchased at the height of the Great Depression [from another local family in desperate need of cash to feed their children]. Gordie got one skate; his sister Edna the other. Eventually, Gordie bartered a deal and purchased Edna’s half of the pair for a dime” (From the book NINE, 2007, Olympia Entertainment Inc.). As a child, Gordie did a great deal of hard, physical labor on
“Gordie” continued on page 7
HELP
General Store of the Future
continued from page 5 us, it is easy to take for granted something as simple as a photograph… especially a photograph of our children. However, poverty robs a person of dignity, of a sense of belonging; sometimes, something as simple as a photograph can be the first step to regaining that
O
PART II
sense of belonging. Everyone deserves to have at least one great portrait.” If you would like to financially contribute to Toledo Help-Portrait 2011, send your check to: 1Matters, 3722 Anderson Parkway, Toledo, OH 43613 and note Toledo Help-Portrait.
Serving & Selling Fair Trade! 331 N. Main Street, Bowling Green 419-352-0706 www.happybadger.com Mon-Sat: 11am-8pm, Sun: 12-5pm
Issue #11
Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
hockey
William James O’Fahey and Robert Ellis
neighboring farms, and with building tradesmen. Gordie Howe became a tremendously strong skater on the ice and these grueling chores no doubt contributed to the exemplary physical strength he would later exhibit while playing hockey. He spoke very fondly of his good friend and former teammate Sid Abel. Gordie Howe, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay formed one of the greatest forward lines in NHL history during the 1950’s. They were known as the “production line,” the heart and soul of the great Detroit Red Wing teams of that era, whose rugged hard-working style of play mirrored the blue collar ethos of the city they represented. Mr. Howe praised Sid Abel for his kindness and his willingness to mentor him when he first joined the Red Wings. Gordie Howe played with the Detroit Red Wings from 1946-1971. 25 seasons. He came out of retirement in 1973 to play with his sons, Marty and Mark on the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association. He was 45 years old when he came out of retirement and he played another seven years after that at a very high level of performance. We asked Mr. Howe what he attributed most to his incredible longevity on the ice, and he said simply, “the love of the game.” Playing hockey was a joy to him, and he gave so much joy to those who were fortunate enough to see him play all those years. And he was a competitor until the day he retired. As Hall of
A
William James O’Fahey
R
Fame goalie, Tony Esposito recalls, “When I entered the league, Gordie was toward the end of his career for the first time. But he was still a great hockey player...even in his 50’s he was a force and could still play. He wasn’t just there because he was Gordie Howe. He was contributing. I remember he scored a goal on me—a wrist shot from about 25-feet out. He beat me clean to the low catching side. He really got a lot on it—blew it by me before I could get there. I think that’s why he came back. He knew he could skate and do the job physically” (From the book NINE, 2007, Olympia Entertainment Inc.). Gordie was a work-horse who battled in the NHL for more than five decades.
PART II s we roll up the driveway, Gordie is standing in the short grass at the gate to the backyard. He is holding a
Walleye’s Nick Vitucci ecently, Toledo Walleye Coach Nick Vitucci was generous with his time in answering a few questions for Toledo Streets.
Gordie stands holding his beloved dog, Rocket. Photo: Robin Charney
very small and very cute black dog. Every athlete in the northern climes knows the legend of Gordie “Gordie” continued on page 10
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W.J. O’Fahey: I was impressed to see the entire Toledo Walleye Team distributing meals at the weekly Food for Thought gathering (at the downtown library) on a recent Saturday. Have you found talking and interacting with folks struggling through extreme poverty—in a relaxed, friendly setting like this—changes our perceptions of some of the people that Walleye fans encounter downtown? Nick Vetucci: It really does change my perceptions. My players and I realized these people didn’t choose to be homeless or that they had to struggle for their next meals. I’m sure some decisions they have made have lead to this but it was a real eye opener to witness it first hand. It was great to mingle with them and to see how appreciative they were to the great volunteers down there. WJO: Some of the volunteers at the weekly Food for Thought gathering are NW Ohio and Michigan area youth hockey players. Could you share some thoughts on the importance of off-ice team activities in strengthening our larger place in the Toledo-Lake Erie community? NV: Well, I am going to make a biased comment here. I think hockey players in general are great at doing whatever is asked of them, or what is needed of them when it come to doing things in the community. Most hockey players come from middle class families and have been humbled very early in their lives by this great game. Our players do a lot of appearances in the community and it’s something that we are very proud of as an organization. The greatest part of it is when the players are asked to do
something, they are enthusiastic about it and do it with a smile. I can’t tell you how many of my players asked questions about the homeless people of Toledo and of the great volunteers that participate on Saturday mornings. WJO: Youth hockey is a big deal in this region. Do you think many fans pay attention when a Red Wings’ player like Justin Abdelkader or Drew Miller is a product of area youth hockey? NV: Yes, I believe many hockey fans are well aware of when a local kid makes it to the NHL and especially the Detroit Red Wings. This is such a strong hockey area with all the youth hockey, high school hockey, college hockey and of course the Professional teams in the area. WJO: Are there current Walleye players with Michigan area youth hockey backgrounds? NV: Yes, we have a few players who grew up playing in and around Michigan and Ohio. Scott Fletcher, Kyle Page, Nick Duff, Dominic Osman, Jimmy Spratt and Evan Rankin are all grew up playing in the Michigan youth hockey associations. WJO: Finally, the Toledo Walleye have been very generous in offering the Huntington Center as a venue for high school hockey games. Do you have any thoughts about the benefits of youth hockey, especially for players who have no professional hockey aspirations? NV: I’m going to be biased once again in saying that hockey is such a great sport no matter the talent level. Players who have no professional aspirations still can enjoy this game for their entire lifetime. There are all kinds of recreational leagues for all levels. All of the local rinks offer drop-in hockey as well. The great part of playing hockey is it is a great form of competition and allows you to stay in really good shape because of the work involved with it. ts
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Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Shay Kelley’s 50 states in 50 weeks mission
H
omeless at 24, she no longer wanted to chase the almighty dollar, so she and her dog, Zuzu climbed into their blue pickup truck, named Bubba. She left in order to capture America’s hopes and dreams. Shay Kelley, a 24-year-old former partner at a marketing firm in Jackson Mississippi, has already been through more than 35 states in her 50 state 50 week mission known as Project 50/50. During her trip Kelley has captured the stories of our nation’s homeless using her camera, Facebook, and Twitter to connect the homeless from coast to coast. While Project 50/50 has already spanned more than 35 states, including Alaska, and was even featured on CNN, Kelley admits this ambitious project was not exactly what she pictured for herself as a 21 year old graduate of Southern Illinois University. “I graduated college in 2007 with a degree in photojournalism,” said Kelley. “And I didn’t want to go straight into working for a newspaper because I was 21 and I wanted to make a lot of money.” Shortly after graduating college, Kelley got a job with a marketing firm in South Carolina. Less than a year she had become a partner in her firm. “I had the chase-the-almighty dollar thing going on in my head,” Kelley said. “So I went to work for a marketing firm in South Carolina. I moved from Illinois to South Carolina and I started climbing the corporate ladder of the marketing firm, and I was really good at it. I made it to partner in less than a year.” Although Kelley was living the American dream, things began to fall apart as quickly as they had come together. Her firm was bought out and relocated to Jackson, Mississippi. Three months later the recession hit and the firm went bankrupt. Less then a month later, Kelley’s car was stolen, her apartment was robbed, and she was eventually evicted from her apartment. Her three roommates, who had been co-workers, had moved away and she could only afford her part of the rent. Kelley was homeless. “I was left with a four-bedroom apartment and I was the only one who didn’t have anywhere to go back to,” Kelley said. “My mom and my family are from Illinois, and I was young and dumb and didn’t save my money.” At the same time, Kelley’s mother was also forced to file
bankruptcy and close their family diner in Illinois. Unable to ask her mother for help, Kelley couldn’t even bring herself to tell her mother about her situation. “So about the same time that I am losing my job and my security, my mom is crying over the phone about the phone bill. How do you go, okay, my mom is basically in the same boat I am. She just happens to have a house.” During her first few days on the streets of Jackson, Mississippi, Kelley says she just walked around town with nowhere to go. Eventually, she wound up sitting outside a gas station, until one day she met someone willing to help her get back on her feet. After she found a place to stay, Kelley was given a skateboard, which she used to travel across town and look for a job. Kelley was eventually able to find a job as a waitress. Shortly after, she also decided to live off of a dollar a day, and save the rest of her income. Though she was saving all of her money, Kelley says she still didn’t know what she was going to do next. Frustrated by the uncertainty surrounding her life she decided to sit down and make a list of the things she hoped to accomplish. It was then that the idea for Project 50/50 was born. “On June 26th, I was really angry about my life. America teaches you to follow a specific pattern, graduate high school, go to college, get a degree. I graduated summa cum laude. I did pretty well in college,” Kelley said. “I got the good job, I climbed the corporate ladder. I followed all the rules and still ended up homeless.” Kelley continued, “A week later I was sitting on Mark’s porch with my dog, Zuzu and I had a stack of paper, and I started writing down all the things that I am good at. I think that our talents are our birthright. So I wrote down all the things I am good at - journalism and photography. I am very adaptable. “Then I wrote down what I wanted out of my life, like a bucket list. I wrote, go to all 50 states.” Then I wanted to help people. I almost joined the Peace Corps three or four times in my life. So, go to all 50 states, help people, and write a book. And I kept thinking there’s got to be one idea that will encompass all of this stuff, that will make everything that has happened to me make sense. And on June 26th, it was like someone had cracked my head open and dropped this idea in my head.”
Issue #11
Adam Sennott
Shay Kelley stands in front of her truck, Bubba, with her dog, Zuzu. Photo: Spare Change News
Kelley had decided that she would travel to all 50 states in 50 weeks, write a book, and give all the proceeds to charity. However, she still needed a vehicle and funds with which to pay for her project. “I had no means by which to accomplish it,” Kelley said. “I had no truck, no camera, no laptop, no money, nothing. I had just started a little waitressing job. I had nothing, and it seemed so overwhelming.” However, after she had come up with the idea for Project 50/50, she received a call from an executive from another marketing firm and was offered a job in Texas. Kelley was suddenly faced with the decision of pursuing her dream, or going back to chasing the almighty dollar. “After our firm closed, and after I had this idea, he called me and said I want you to come work for me at my firm in Texas. He basically promised me a position that was higher and earned much more money than the one that I had already had,” Kelley said. “But, if I could explain what it was like to get this idea. I knew that I had been chasing money the entire time I was in marketing, and I had wound up on the street, and because I believed in karma I had to believe that the two had something to do with each other.” So Kelley saved the money she earned as a waitress and eventually decided that in order to accomplish her goal of 50 states in 50 weeks she would need something that would be durable enough to make the trip without breaking down. That’s when she met Bubba, a blue 1994 Ford F150 pickup
truck with over 150,000 miles on it. “I was in a church parking lot about seven miles away from the guy who was selling it, and I said, if this guy will take $2,000 for this truck, it’s ‘the truck.’ And I offered him $2,000 and he took it,” said Kelley, who named the truck Bubba after its previous owner. “It’s been 35 weeks later, no problems.” Once she bought Bubba, Kelley moved into it and continued working her job as a waitress. On October 26th, Kelley left for Green Bay, Wisconsin in order to attend her uncle’s funeral. With only $83 in her pocket, Kelley left and never looked back. Shortly after Kelley left Wisconsin, her aunt sent her a camera. Kelley had also decided she was going to go door to door and collect 200 canned good items a week and give them to various non-profit organizations. “I knew that if I wanted to get something from my life, that I was going to have to give something first,” Kelley said. “It just works that way, and I wanted to prove it.” When this article was written, Kelley had already donated 7,685 canned food items, close to her goal of 10,000. Ten weeks into her trip, Kelley decided that she had to share her stories with the world, and ShayKelley.com was born. Along with a website, Kelley also got her own Facebook page, and a Twitter account. However, Kelley wasn’t happy with just using these forms of social media to connect with people. She had more ambitious plans. “I started a side project called Happy Feet, where I collect socks, and “50/50” continued on page 10
Issue #11
Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Living Faith: The culture of things
R
ecently here in Toledo, on the air waves of WSPD AM 1370, radio talk show host Brian Wilson said some extremely inappropriate remarks regarding Toledo Public School students while in the process of indicting the school system itself. Here’s what he said, “Certainly teaching little monkeys to peel bananas and so on and them learning to do it correctly on cue does not mean that they’ve learned anything except a funny parlor trick.” The monkey reference of course has outraged more than a few citizens in that no one prefers to have their children referenced as animals. Of course, the reference in the African-American community means even more and is therefore more troubling. Monkeys have long been a common racial references against the African-American citizen. So of course there has been outrage and calls for apologies from Mr. Wilson and all manner of speech regarding boycotts of WSPD and so on. Should there be outrage? Certainly! An elected official conducting a sidewalk meeting in her district in Tucson, Arizona was critically wounded by an armed assailant a few weeks ago. The gunman left six
Church
continued from page 5 “Listen to what he said kids. Think about it. What does that mean?” Then very slowly I looked around at every face in the circle to let it set in. “His envy, anger and jealousy grew to the point of considering robbery. You think it was because I had so much? Or was it because I was flaunting it with such contempt?” In mock sincerity I said, “I feel bad. By a show of hands, how many are hungry? Ok, any one of you who would like some French fries, stand up. It’s ok, it won’t violate the fast,” I lied. One third stood and I asked them to come to the center of the room. Once there, I told them they all could have something to eat. Then steps in my wife to give them a real taste of poverty, she began by very angrily ordering the students to
Page 9
Rev. Dan Rogers
dead and 15 wounded including Representative Gabby Giffords before being apprehended by others. Among the dead was a 9 year old girl. Since then there has been much discourse through national and local media outlets regarding the tone of political rhetoric in the United States. The political ‘right’ is indicting the political ‘left’ for being too soft and the ‘left’ is indicting the ‘right’ for being too hard. The phrase vitriolic speech has been used again and again—by everyone about everyone. Should there be outrage? Certainly! “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never harm me.” I sure wish this were a true statement—but it’s not. In thirty years of service within the human condition I’ve not seen it. I’ve not seen this statement true in the countless lives sitting across the table from me and I’ve not seen it personally. As a matter of fact, there have been times being the
recipient of a tongue lashing I would have preferred the stick. Words are very powerful. With words we can shape the destiny of our children, paint landscapes of imagination so vivid they become realities and with words we can forge new horizons of thought p r o v o k e d innovation. In the month of January two great orators are often remembered. Men who spoke in such a way that pricked the conscience of their generation —so powerful were the words they used, we remember them and point back to them to this very day. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his many speeches on justice for all regardless of color, which sparked a revolution; and John Fitzgerald Kennedy for his inauguration speech that challenged a generation to do for their country. Words are also an explanation. Words explain our culture and our belief system. Words are powerful. That’s why, for me it’s always
amusing when those who speak perhaps out-of-turn or in a way that is harmful back-peddle when challenged or found out. It’s amusing to think that a person can speak words—any words—and claim those same words have no meaning or have no power. I always say, ‘Brother, you can’t talk yourself out of something you behaved yourself into.’ Jesus said as it is recorded in Matthew 12:36,37; “I can guarantee that on judgment day people will have to give an account of every careless word they say. By your words you will be declared innocent, or by your words you will be declared guilty.” All I’m saying is, words are powerful. Here’s today’s question, ‘What will you shape, paint, forge or explain today with your words?’ Each day God gives us a new canvas. Clean, pristine and yearning for creation, the new day sits there and stares at us waiting for our next move. My prayer is that we who follow God will set aside paralysis born of indecision or fear and with careful word evoke innovation, shape the framework of hope for our generation and explain ourselves to a generation who is at watch. ts
get in a single file line. If they want food, they better obey her, she told them. She pushed one student in line as she yelled that she needed a straight single file line. Another she told that she did not like how she was standing and told her to get at the end of the line. A third student found a pillar in her way and despite her very valid reason for not being in a straight line, she was ordered out of line and told she would receive NO food, period. “But the pillar was in my way,” she begged. My wife’s indifferent retort was, “Who cares? You were not in single file…But I will let you get to the end of the line.” While my wife continued to maintain order in the line, I stood up and went to the front of the line and began serving them. I gave each kid a single solitary fry. Shoulders and heads sunk down once their allotment became clear. I did not get this at first, but they did not eat their fries, they just looked at them. Perhaps it was the
indignity that caused a reaction I had seen many times on the streets, but never EVER had anticipated could be evoked from this exercise. “Why are you not eating them?” I asked. At that moment, with a single statement, the third person in line taught one of the most profound lessons in all of humanity: “I want to give this to someone else who needs it.” I stopped dead in my tracks. “Me too,” said one, then another, and another until all had agreed. “What?” I asked, holding back my emotions. Another said, “We don’t want to break our fast. We would rather give these to a student who really needs them, who thinks they are gonna pass out.” Wow…. 1 really does matter! Now you understand the WHY: WHY our friends on the street
take the single small cigarette butt they found on the ground and share it with one another. WHY on a recent freezing Saturday downtown at the library, we saw one of our friends who lives in St. Paul’s give his only pair of gloves to another whose hands were freezing because he “wanted to help the homeless.” WHY when Jimmy, a friend I’ve written about many times, was given a change of clothes, his reaction when he was leaving was to stop, turn around and say, “I’m going to go pass this on.” WHY it is those with the least who give the most. That is WHY! What more could one learn? These fine students, who I had come to teach, instead became my teachers. The lesson was over. 1Matters. Church dismissed. ts
Here’s today’s question, ‘What will you shape, paint, forge or explain today with your words?’
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Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Gordie
continued from page 7
W
EPILOGUE
e were surprised to learn that Gordie Howe has been intimately familiar with Toledo hockey for decades. “We would be sequestered in Toledo during the Stanley Cup Playoffs and we often stayed in that hotel downtown.” “Downtown Toledo?” we ask. “Yes,” says Gordie. “And I cut the ribbon at Bowling Green’s hockey rink and sometimes we practiced in Bowling Green.” And Gordie Howe has been very generous with his time on behalf of Toledo and southeast Michigan charities. At a recent appearance at a
Horror
50/50
the bodies,” said Dr. Sabah, one of the forensics trying to find a suitable piece of bone for the sample. “This room looks empty now, but last week it was packed to capacity. Families keep coming here looking for missing relatives.” At the Benghazi Medical Center, a gigantic, new hospital on the outskirts of downtown, the casualty situation wasn’t as dire as at Al-Jahal, but what the doctors saw enraged them. “The casualties here were mainly gunshot wounds to the head, chest, abdomen - mostly young people under 25,” said hospital director Dr. Jamal Eltalhi. “Some arrived dead, some died here. And not just normal gunshots, but also heavy artillery. The size and type of these injuries were horrific. Some were cut in half. Every single patient admitted to this hospital was a gunshot victim and in a shoot-to-kill style.” Fears of an attack from Gaddafi, however, are not far from the minds of Benghazi’s citizens. “We are all on full alert because we don’t know what will happen next,” Eltalhi said. “But we are managing with the minimum number of nurses and doctors. We cannot open wards. We have no outpatient services running because of the shortage of staff and supplies. We have a shortage of cancer, diabetic and epileptic drugs. “These are all vital drugs, but they have not been a priority over the past few days. If anything happens in Benghazi, this hospital will have no chance to cope. We couldn’t even cope with a large car accident. But we must also focus on what’s happening in the western part, which is a real crisis. “There is killing every day. In Tripoli they are killing people and taking their bodies away so no one can see them. My mother is stuck in Tripoli, and she told me over the phone that no one can leave their houses for food. Everyone is hiding in their homes looking for an answer to a question that is uncertain.”
I used Facebook,” Kelley said. “This is a really good example of using social media to actually do something.” Kelly also said, “The people on my Facebook don’t just talk, they actually do something,” Kelley said. “They actually gather up socks and they ship them to three volunteers around the country that distribute them - one in Detroit, one in California, and one in Illinois.” Along with using social media to deliver socks to the homeless (Kelley is now also delivering shoes) she was also able to use Twitter to deliver groceries to a family on the other side of the country. “I read his bio on Twitter and realized that he was homeless. He was living with his wife and 13-year-old son in a pop-up camper in a friend of the family’s backyard,” Kelley said. “He said that he was from Reno, Nevada, and all these bells started going off. “When I was in Reno, I found this fantastic food bank called Hands of Hope. They are a co-pay program that requires you to pay $5. But it’s for veterans, and every Tuesday night, they have veterans come into the food bank.” “I sent a Facebook message to Hands of Hope, when I found out he was in Reno, Nevada,” Kelley said. “I told them the entire story about what was going on in their lives, and just gave them this veterans address, and just said let me know what happens. I got a Facebook message from Hands of Hope saying they had a guy named Herb who comes in to volunteer every Tuesday night and who coincidentally lives a block away from this guy’s family, and that he would pick up the food and take it to them. That night, they posted pictures of food on their Facebook page.” Over the past 35 weeks Kelley has had many more experiences similar to this one, including giving an entire truckload of socks away in inner-city Detroit, and meeting two homeless teenagers who travel the country on train cars. Unfortunately, there is not enough space in this article to tell them. However, Kelley has generously agreed to regularly contribute her experiences to Spare Change. She also has a photo gallery at www.sparechangenews.net.
continued from page 3
Howe; from Russia to Finland to Sweden to Newfoundland to Alaska and back to Russia again…every athlete in the Northern climes knows the legend of Gordie Howe… and yet Gordie lives, not in a palace, but in a simple North American house, with a simple North American mailbox, O’Fahey stands next to Howe at the end of the interview with “Mr. and a simple North American Hockey”. Photo: Robin Charney backyard. He shares this trait the Stanley Cup throughout the 1950’s]. with Neil Armstrong, a man “Richard wore #9, then you of great deeds and yet great humility. And Gordie is holding a very wore #9, right?” we ask. “I had a couple of different small and very cute black dog. Again, this is GORDIE HOWE. Mean as a numbers when I was playing at Omaha, snake competitor; slash you ‘cross the and with the Saskatoon Quakers, then hands, GORDIE HOWE is holding a I finally had the chance to choose my number because I led the team in scoring.” very small and very cute black dog. “And you choose Richard’s “What’s his name?” we ask, and Gordie smiles and answers, “Rocket. number, number 9?” Gordie replies, “Yep.” His name is Rocket.” Neither of us wishes to labor “You mean like Rocket a potentially sensitive subject. Gordie Richard?” we inquire sincerely. “Yes,” says Gordie, “Like Rocket Howe and Rocket Richard were brutal rivals with each other on the ice. But, Richard.” This simple fact is quite poignant Gordie’s fondness for a dog named for those folks who know a little hockey Rocket, seems to reveal a profound history. Gordie Howe’s beloved little respect for Richard that lives on long after the earthly passing of Quebec’s folk hero. black dog is named Rocket. As we depart, Gordie invites “You had years of hard-fought rivalry against Rocket Richard, he was a us to take photographs beside him. “I want to take a picture with Jim,” he says, really tough competitor, is that right?” “Yeah,” smiles Gordie, “we “so people can see how fit I am.” Being kiddingly insulted by Gordie Howe is one fought some battles.” Gordie holds Rocket the dog of the greatest events in O’Fahey’s life. As in a gentle way that you know that we’re walking out the door, Bob reflects on “Rocket” holds a special place in Gordie’s the miraculous recovery from a near fatal life. [Note: Howe’s Red Wings fought hockey injury (in 1950) that brought the Richard’s Canadiens in brutal battles for world hockey’s most storied career.
southeast Michigan amateur hockey association event, Gordie said, “Every time I’m around hockey, I’m happy...” The event’s coordinator was heard remarking that he hoped to bring Howe to the hockey camp to fit in with the family theme. “We believe that hockey is a family-oriented sport.” Our experience with Gordie that afternoon confirms that Gordie is all about family…and that’s another reason why GORDIE HOWE IS ONE FOR THE AGES! O’Fahey and Ellis can be reached through www.amishcountrydoctors.com ts
Issue #11
Originally published by Inter Press Service. © www.streetnewsservice.org ts
continued from page 8
Originally published by Spare Change News, USA © www.streetnewsservice.org
ts
Issue #11
Toledo Streets - The Paper with a Mission
Hoboscopes PISCES | Beware the ides of March! Not really, Pisces, I was just trying to scare you. The problem is, it probably worked. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a little caution, but don’t you think you’ve been piling it on a little thick lately? I mean, I’m all for people wearing bike helmets, I just think it’s unnecessary to put one on every time you want to change the channel. Sometimes what seems like the safest option for the present moment is actually dangerous to the potential of a life well lived. What I’m saying is, you’re going to have to take a few risks now if you want to keep your future safe. ARIES | March has a reputation for coming in like a lion, and going out like a lamb. So when will this one hurry up and get a little more sheepy already? It does seem like the roars are ongoing, Aries, but maybe it has less to do with where you are and more to do with which direction you’re facing. The stars indicate this rough patch won’t even-out without a good solid change of perspective. So if you need a good delionization, waiting out the month may not get the job done. You’re going to have to dig a little deeper and follow the sound of that tender bleeting.
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Mr. Mysterio historians agree there were, in fact, two distinct persons to whom we now ascribe the many mighty deeds of St. Patrick? Take it easy. Do what you have time to do. Just think, confused future anthropologists may credit you as the Gemini who thought up green beer. CANCER | Even after Sassafras Herbert received her diploma from the American Association of Nutrition and Dietary Consultants, she still found it nearly impossible to begin a career in her field. This may have been because of the tough job market. It also might have been because Sassafras was, in fact, a standard poodle. Sassafras’ owner had obtained the degree for his dog to make a point about credentials. It doesn’t take a genius (or even a human being) to get a diploma. You see, Cancer, just because someone tells you they have the experience, achievements, and contacts to get the job done, doesn’t mean they’re really the best candidate. So before you sign say yes to the applicant without the most impressive resume, maybe you should do a little digging. Sassafras would.
TAURUS | We surveyed 100 stars, and on the board are the top six answers to the question “Name something a Taurus might do this month.” Are you ready to play the feud? No? Alright then, we’ll skip straight to the answers. At number six we have *ding!* “Do some laundry.” Number five? *ding!* “Take a nap.” Coming in at number four *ding!* “Buy some groceries.” Number three? *ding!* “Laugh at a joke.” At number two we have *ding!* “Experience disappointment.” And the number one answer to the astrological question “Name something a Taurus might do this month” is . . . *ding!* “Read a horoscope!” Thank you, that’s all the time we have!
LEO | Be bold and take chances today! Spend your money and it will come back to you! [Side effects from following this advice may include dizziness, disappointment, empty wallet, regret, broken bones, nausea, mild to severe poverty, loss of friends, arrest, headache, confusion and dry-mouth. In fewer than 1% of cases, readers following this advice experienced a rare form of social discomfort and/or death. Many Leos found more lasting satisfaction from drinking a cool glass of water and enjoying a sugar pill on the back patio. Extensive study has shown that in some specific cases, the benefits of following this advice may outweigh the risks. Ask your family astrologer if this horoscope may be right for you.] What are you waiting for, Leo? There’s a whole world of adventure just around the corner!
GEMINI | It is said St. Patrick ran the snakes out of Ireland, brought Christendom to the Druids, elevated the humble clover to a metaphor for the trinity, and pinched the holy-tar out of everybody who wasn’t wearing green. Busy guys like St. Paddy make it tough for you and me to feel like we’re getting enough accomplished in our limited time on earth. But did you know most
VIRGO | The Virginia Opossum is famous for being North America’s only marsupial, but is perhaps more well known for its behavior of thanatosis, or, as we amateur astrologers say, “playing possum.” When the Opossum feels threatened by an angry bobcat or a curious collie, it will involuntarily fall on its side, curl up, open it’s mouth to let its tongue hang out and emit a foul
odor similar to a rotting corpse. Sound like anybody you know, Virgo? Every time your phone rings lately, you send it to voicemail and hope they assume you’ve died. I think you may need to reassess what you consider a “threat”. I understand you’ve gotten behind on a few responsibilities and have let a few relationships lapse. Maybe next time one of these “predators” pops up in your inbox you’ll be better off if you go ahead and deal with it. LIBRA | I see by your outfit you are a cowboy. That’s all fine and good, but what else can you tell me about yourself, Libra? You project a certain image to the world, but the stars are finding it all a bit one-dimensional. What’s behind the spurs and six-shooters? Just how deep is your ten-gallon hat? Most of your recent conversations have consisted entirely of the words “Howdy” and “I reckon so”. I think it’s time you lighten-up the facade and start revealing a little bit more of what’s underneath. When it comes your time to be wrapped up in white lenin, you’ll be surrounded by those who actually give a wild whoop about you. SCORPIO | Yes, it’s very exciting you’ve finally found people who understand you, Scorpio. It’s remarkable you’ve reconnected with your Jr. High chem lab partner. I’m astounded you’re making new friends from around the world. But when you talk about the community you’re finding online, I have to wonder if you’re paying attention to the community right here in your neighborhood. When’s the last time you said “hi” to your neighbors? What’s your new mailman’s name? I’m not saying you aren’t making real connections on the internet, I’m just hoping you’ll maintain the connections that don’t require a login and password. SAGITTARIUS | Ah, the books you’ve never read. They fill your shelves like the tiny sarcophagi of all your best intentions. Each one tells a story of a different hope, a different dream for the future. It doesn’t have to be this way, Sagittarius. I hereby give you permission to clean off those shelves. That’s right, The Celestine Prophecy, your English/ Esperanto dictionary, and the biography of Tommy Lasorda can officially be boxed up and given away. Let them be a burden to another household. There’s
another part to this deal, though. Once you let those shelves lay fallow for a time, I want you to fill them right back up again. Find some new things to hope and some new dreams to chase. Just don’t let them weigh you down. CAPRICORN | The person who discovered popcorn must have been terrified. I mean, think about it. One minute you’re just roasting up some old corn you found, and the next BLAMBLAMBLAM! But what a payoff! I mean, if that startled individual had just dropped the exploding thing into the fire and run away, todays movie theaters would no doubt be filled with messy, wet corn cobs. Instead we get buckets of fluffy white crunchy goodness. So, Capricorn, if you have a startling experience this month, I must encourage you to pull yourself together and see what good may come of it. If it’s hard to think clearly when the adrenaline is pumping, just remember that brave corn-roasting soul of yore, gather your courage and push foreword. It may just be an indication that lighter, crunchier times are ahead. AQUARIUS | They say “you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip,” Aquarius. I don’t think they should say that. Not because it isn’t true, but because it’s quite graphic and what if there are children listening? Maybe aphorisms should have some kind of rating system so we can decide who should be aloud to use them and under what conditions they should be used. Like that one about killing two birds with one stone would be rated “Mature Audiences Only” for violent imagery. Similarly, the one about the bird in the hand would be rated “13 And Older” for implied violence and potentially disease-spreading behavior. You should probably stop using aphorisms altogether until we can get a system set in stone*. (*”Set in stone” has been approved for all audiences.) Mr. Mysterio is not a licensed astrologer, a 3 time Best in Show winner, or a consistent crowd favorite. Want more particles of passable portent? Follow Mr. Mysterio on twitter at: http://twitter.com/mrmysterio Hoboscopes appear courtesy of The Contributor street newspaper in Nashville, TN.
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2011 Tent City
1Mile Matters
“Building Foundations, Building Hope”
WALK THE TALK
October 29th-31st
October 9th, 2011
You matter! Here are some ways to get involved: 1. Come to a Tent City planning meeting! • Second Thursday of each month, 7pm • American Red Cross, 3100 W. Central Ave. 2. Organize a clothing drive at your workplace, church or school 3. Gather or join a team to walk 1Mile Matters • Set for Sunday, October 9th 4. Donate your time, talen or treasure. We have a lot of work to do, and we need your help! 5. Spread the word about Tent City, 1Mile Matters, World Homeless Day, and so many more worthy causes and events!
2010 Tent City; Photos: Dawn Hall