tHE CoLor wHEEL turns

There was a time when, in my middle childhood, I had an unquenchable desire to do art. I loved to color, as most children do.

Even with the broken crayons that were the rule in our house, I would seek out any opportunity to add my impression of color to a page.

I also always liked to draw, even to the extent of making my own paper dolls, complete with story lines and wardrobes to accompany them.

Where this came from was never clear, but there were two rather interesting influences that I can remember. One was the NBC weatherman, Tex Antoine who would, at the end of the weather report, turn the temperature numerals into a cartoon. The whole family watched in wonder every night.

The second was another TV artist, Jon Gnagy, who with charcoal would demonstrate how basic shapes could be found in any picture. My Dad and I watched that program. I, after not too much pestering, received a Jon Gnagy “Draw with Me” kit for my birthday.

Jon Gnagy’s kit contained a pad of paper, two charcoal crayons, a wonderful thing called a kneaded eraser and an instruction pamphlet.

When I ran out of paper and charcoal, I still had the eraser and, now, a penchant for the real thingoil paints. The reason for this lust was a full-color Christmas card that fascinated my child’s mind.

It depicted a cozy cottage surrounded by fancifully-colored pink and green trees with a glittery waterfall and stream in front.

I drew this scene over and over. Charcoal couldn’t do it justice.

I had to paint it.

So, what did I know about oil paints? Nothing. But persistence pays off and my Santa left a complete oil paint set under the tree that year.

Thus, the learning curve began.

I became familiar with names like cadmium yellow, aliziran crimson and ultramarine blue. I learned how to use the linseed oil and turpentine that came with the set, the wooden pallet, pallet knife and the little cup that attached to the palette.

I painted my picture, my youthful joy of creation, and because I thought it was so beautiful, entered it into the art contest at school.

How excited should you be when you win an honorable mention?

The awards for the contest were a premier event at our school. Presented in the evening, you were expected to dress in your best to walk across the stage to receive your award.

The whole family would be there - Mom, Dad, my siblings, grandparents and assorted aunts and uncles. I was over-the-moon excited.

Full of herself would be a good phrase to attach to my mind set.

Since I was going to be on stage, I decided to experiment surreptitiously with my mother’s makeup. There I was in the bathroom, with my mother’s rouge, trying to embellish the 10-year-old’s face.

I put a dab on my right cheek. I looked like a clown. I tried to wash it off. I rubbed gently, but there seemed to be a remaining smudge of red that needed to be removed, not only for beauty’s sake, but to hide the evidence.

I rubbed some more. The spot got redder. The more I rubbed, the darker my cheek became until it began to sting with every effort to erase my sin.

I had monopolized the only bathroom in the house for quite some time. There were several siblings at the door, whose pleas had gone unanswered until my mother knocked on the door to ask what was wrong.

By this time I was sobbing. Why couldn’t I remove that rouge from my now bright red cheek. I had ruined my life. Not only would my mother be mad at me, but I probably wouldn’t be allowed to go to the awards night.

Well, my mom wasn’t mad at all. She smiled and explained that my red cheek was the result of my over-industrious use of the wash cloth and that we would still go to the event. She even used some of her “pancake” makeup on my sore red face.

That night I won a box of Jon Gnagy colored pencils. I still have them much in the same fashion that you only use the good dishes on special occasions, I rarely used these precious reminders of my award. They rest in the back of the drawer of my desk. And how many years ago did my competitiveness and ego earn these eight pencils? A lifetime ago. I long ago gave up the idea that I was an artist. That died with lesson plans and laundry. But those Jon Gnacy pencils are still there and I think I have found a special occasion for their use.

I think that I will use them to embellish a page from “Well Said, The Library Lovers Coloring Book of Quotes” in honor of Library Lovers Month. So now I come full circle to a coloring book. The wheel turns.

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

Arrests on the rise in the village of Liverpool

The Liverpool Police Department arrested 528 individuals last year, more than three times the 143 arrests made here in 2021.

Despite an ongoing staff shortage, Chief Jerry Unger’s officers have ramped up their enforcement efforts across the board.

At the Jan. 30 meeting of the village board of trustees, Unger presented his department’s annual statistics.

When compared to the previous year’s stats, they painted an interesting picture.

traffic stops up

In 2022, the officers increased the number of traffic stops to 2,409, which was 113 more than the previous year.

Unsurprisingly, the number of traffic tickets issued also rose significantly from 1,943 in 2021 to 2,610 last year, an increase of 667.

The number of driving while intoxicated arrests rose by three, from 21 in ’21 to 24 last year.

The officers investigated 105 accidents in 2022, nine more than the previous year.

And the village police answered 7,353 calls for service last year, which is 482 more than 2021.

“That comes to an average of 18.8 calls every single day,” Unger said.

Property checks down

The downside of all that po -

Livin’ in Liverpool

russ tarby

lice activity is that the department’s number of property checks has decreased considerably.

In 2021 officers made 4,141 checks on local businesses, which was 1,211 more than the 2,930 checks made last year.

Unger explained that decrease as a simple matter of priorities.

“When you’re arresting people, you can’t do property checks,” he told the trustees.

r ecent ribbon cuttings

The Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce hosted a couple ribbon cuttings last week. On Feb. 16, the scissors did their thing at Go Car Wash, 7376 Oswego Road. The next day, Feb. 17, the ribbon was sliced at Prom Central, at Glenn Crossing Plaza, 7421 Oswego Road. Because that event was scheduled for noon, Chamber Director Lucretia Hudzinski and friends stopped for lunch at the plaza’s new Italian restaurant, Il Limone, where they savored creations from kitchen of chef Claudio Bueti.

Miss Maybell at r iley’s s aturday

It’s not every day you get a chance to be entertained by a lovely lass playing guitar, banjo and ukulele along with a washboard affixed with a cymbal.

But we’ll have that chance

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Creative Director: Gordon bigelow, ext 331, art@eaglenewsonline com this Saturday evening, Feb. 25, when Miss Maybell and the Jazz Artistes entertain at Riley’s from 7 to 10 p.m.

Miss Maybell – whose real name is Lauren Sansaricq – will be accompanied, as always, by pianist Charlie Judkins. The Artistes are based in Manhattan where they’ve showcased at the Birdland Theater and are often featured at The Flatiron Room performing blues, ragtime and classic jazz. Later this year, they’re booked in Bern, Switzerland.

The combo proudly presents songs from the earliest days of the 20th century. Their audiences often hear old chestnuts such as “I Used to Sigh for the Silvery Moon” from 1907 or “Pickles and Peppers” from 1906.

A few later compositions may be more familiar to 21st century audiences, tunes like “Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!” from 1917 and “Where’d You Get Those Eyes?” from 1926.

And if we’re really lucky on Saturday, Miss Maybell will whip out her “Bob Burns Bazooka Kazoo.”

For Artist’s info, visit missmaybell.co m

Riley’s is located at 312 Park St., on Syracuse’s north side; 315-471-7111.

Last word

“Miss Maybell and Charlie Judkins share a groove that is truly timeless.”

– The Syncopated Times