Fans gladly brave rain for good seat

The fun starts in the line.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Tom Joyner has brought his nationally syndicated radio show to Powers Auditorium here two consecutive years, and some make standing in line as big an event as the actual show.
The Tom Joyner Sky Show is free, meaning people line up early to get a good seat.
The first group of Joyner fans got in line at 11 a.m. Thursday -- nearly 20 hours before the show was slated to begin.
Heavy rain fell downtown Thursday afternoon, but the dozen or so people waiting out in front of Powers paid little mind.
They ate sandwiches, talked and read various newspapers, enjoying what protection the building's overhang had to offer.
Marva Parker, Dorothy Turner, Cherl Ashley and Annletha Wilson, all of Youngstown, were there by 11 a.m.
That made them first in line Thursday, and they were first in line when Joyner visited last year. Turner cut short a vacation to Mississippi to make it back in time for the show.
Well prepared
The women camped outside the building with lawn chairs, blankets, coolers and a cell phone to call family members should they have forgotten any essentials.
They had a list, made last year, of restaurants that would deliver food to them in front of Powers.
"It's not every day that you get to see Tom Joyner," said Parker. "This is about his show and everything that he stands for.
"This is us, the black voice. He could come in December and I would still be sitting here."
Fifteen minutes after the first group arrived, Brenda Rushton, Shatasia Walker and Carol Freeman, all of Youngstown, made it to the building.
Rushton was also second in line last year. She said getting in line early is part of the fun.
She said she looked forward to standing in line. Last year, she said, Joyner fans in line played cards and socialized through the night.
jgoodwin@vindy.com