Oz Legacies

For 48 years, I knew only that my brother, Charles C. Crisafulli, GM 2/c, lost his life while fighting for his country. Many stories were in the papers, telling of a military grave for all who died at St. Lawrence, Newfoundland. Now 50 years later, I finally know the real sea story.

First there was Hi-Fi, then came stereo, and now we have Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi and stereo through Bluetooth. I guess that's called progress. Stereo sound is amazing because it has two sides to it. You hear the left and the right, and the blend in between.

I first met Helen Hennessey Chetney when I was a teenage disc jockey for WOSC, and she was the secretary for the station. She, as it turned out, was a great friend of my next door neighbor, Julie Ann Doyle ( Saloga) , and her family had run a pharmacy on West Bridge St. for many years. It was our neighborhood drugstore, just like Gover's was our neighborhood department store.

This column, and the next two, will be a diversion from my normal format of hagio-graphic paens to Oswego's leading lights. As readers of this column, and those of you who know me can attest, I love the opportunity to speak publicly, on any subject. Where two or more are gathered, wind me up and put a microphone in my hand, and away I go.

I first met David John Roman in the fall of 1976. He was being interviewed by John Conway as a possible part-time law clerk. He was also being considered for a part-time job with our law office, consisting of both Mike Shanley and myself.

There are some people who are just ...larger than life. Nancy Joyce Rodak was one of those individuals. Nance never just walked into a room, she made an entrance. Her very presence was a statement. Nancy not only had an outsized personality, but she was also a woman with a plus size figure who dressed well for all occasions, smelled great, and just exuded feminine charm. She always carried herself with a certain kind of savoir faire, a panache, that left an impression on anyone who had the pleasure to make her acquaintance.

What happens when the Kappa Sigma Teen Queen of the year marries the future principal of the Oswego Middle School? Magic, that's what, and a fairy-tale life!

"So enough already about the damn emails!" was Brooklyn-speak for let's just move on. Bernie Sanders may have meant his comment at the first Democratic presidential primary debate last week in a pejorative sense, but it didn't come across that way, and whether it was a slip of the tongue or unintended pat on the back to Hillary Clinton, the effect is still the same. "Enough already!" That phrase is as understood by the Gentile as it is by the Jew. Republicans should have heard this, too.

Lake Ontario... Harborfest Oswego! People come on, come out, people come on now jump and shout!" "That's the opening line from my favorite Harborfest theme song, and it was the winning entry for 1990, and was written and ably performed by Oswego native Sam Domicolo.