GAIL WHITE Charming restaurant, innocent laughs left me in stitches

When I arrived at Mrs. T's restaurant/bar on state Route 14 in Washingtonville last Thursday, I didn't know what to expect.
I have passed through Washingtonville a million times on my way from one place to another. It's one of those blink-and-you've-missed-it kind of towns.
Mrs. T's is one of those places that you drive by, and, well ... you just keep driving. The building is not the least bit impressive from the outside, though the sign out front claims Mrs. T makes the best steak salads, which, I am told, is true.
What the sign doesn't say is what goes on inside this restaurant/bar every Thursday night. It's not an evening for the faint-hearted, the persnickety or the self-effacing. It is an evening for the young at heart.
Packed house
I stepped inside Mrs. T's about 6 p.m. The lime green walls, vinyl booths and folding chairs were no surprise. It was the 50 or so patrons that caught my attention. Every person was nearly twice my age.
Crowded in the booths and lined up at the tables placed end-to-end throughout the room, the diners were laughing and talking as they ate one of Mrs. T's hearty dinner specials. This group had begun filtering in about 5 p.m., and they were determined to stay until the show was over, about the wee hour of 9:30 p.m.
Sticking out like a sore thumb in my "youth," I searched for the mother of a friend of mine, Cathy Lipe, who had told me about this Thursday night event.
"We're waiting for Little Joe," Cathy told me.
Shortly before 6:30, Little Joe arrived.
Little Joe Latessa is one those people you meet, and you instantly feel like you've known him forever. He is completely unassuming, always has a smile, and he would give you the shirt off his back. It is these qualities, along with his baritone voice and piano playing, that pack the house at Mrs. T's every Thursday night.
"I love these people," Joe says. "A lot of them have been following me for years -- one of them for 28 years!"
After cracking a few jokes, Joe begins to sing: "I don't know why I love you like I do. I don't know why, I just do..."
After the first line, I can no longer hear Joe's baritone voice. The entire crowd is singing. They kept on singing, right through "Give My Regards To Broadway" and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
During "Blueberry Hill," Leila Eastek of Washingtonville yelled over to Joe.
"Hey, where did you come from?" he bellows. "We're going to change the words 'cause this is the way she sings it!"
"I found my thrill," Joe begins the song again, "in Washingtonville."
"My husband used to sing that to me when we were going up the Millville hill," Leila explains.
Audience in stitches
After a few more songs, Joe turns the microphone over to the crowd.
Mike Dzurenko of Columbiana sings, "With this ring I thee wed..." as his wife, Vera sits at the table.
Mike Mularchik of Lowellville takes center stage next with his accordion, playing his rendition of "In Heaven There is No Beer."
Lou Sudano of Berlin Center plays "Going to Kansas City" on his guitar as Tina Rogers and her father, Paul Rance, begin to dance.
Al Wilkes of Boardman takes the microphone next. He attempts to involve Little Joe in his song, but Joe can't seem to remember his cue. Their exchange of words is reminiscent of a vaudeville act. They leave the audience in stitches.
Even the waiter at Mrs. T's gets into the act. John Branch breaks out in baritone singing, "They say you found somebody new ..."
By 8 p.m., I was worn out. Just as I was about to sneak out the door, Joe called me up to the front.
Deemed a member of the Washingtonville Society for the Preservation of Good Music, I was handed a washboard and stick.
With Joe on his banjo, me with my washboard, and a small band consisting of a washtub and tambourine, we played until I laughed so hard I almost cried.
I left the lime green walls of Mrs. T's that night with the warm, wonderful feeling of being completely surprised by my experience.
Who would have thought that little restaurant with the best steak salad in that blink-and-you've-missed-it town could be so much fun.
gwhite@vindy.com