Area's commitment to arts has gone unrecognized

Area's commitment to arts has gone unrecognized
EDITOR:
It was certainly good news to see The New York Times Magazine finally recognize the numerous things this area has to offer in its "creative shrinkage" article. And Mayor Williams also deserves kudos for his efforts. But your editorial, and the Times magazine missed the big story. More than anything, credit should go to those who live in this community for recognizing the importance of our cultural amenities beginning in the late 1970s when the easy thing would have been to let our cultural icons simply slip away.
With all due respect to Mayor Williams and the Times, this community, on its own, intuitively protected its greatest assets over the past 25 years. Instead of closing or shrinking its cultural assets, this area expanded them with gusto while everything else was going to hell in a hand basket. The Youngstown Symphony expanded and improved its facility. The Butler Art Gallery added an addition. The McDonough Museum of Art was built from scratch. Mill Creek Park became a Metro Park, adding and improving facilities. When the Youngstown Playhouse was ready to close, the community rallied to save it. Entertainment entrepreneurs founded Easy Street Productions and the Oakland Theater. Stambaugh Auditorium was renovated. Fully staged opera productions came to town. Youngstown State University expanded and has flourished (of special note, its wellness center, dorms and football program). The real story is that this community, in the face of horrible adversity, kept it all going on its own, and with local money.
The result was the event calendar from last weekend. Disney on Ice at the Chevy Centre; Miracle on Easy Street at the DeYor Center, The Letterman at Stambaugh Auditorium, the drag Christmas show at the Oakland, the Secret Garden at the Youngstown Playhouse, the Move Over Broadway Christmas Show at St. Michael's in Canfield, not to mention productions such as the Seraphim Concerts, the Youngstown Symphony Chorus Concert,and the Raridon Singers Concerts, all available to the area at little, if any, cost over the past several weeks.
It's great that The New York Times finally recognized what is going on here. It just would have been nice if they commented on it when the going was tough, and tough got going.
MARK G. MANGIE
Canfield
The gift of good times
EDITOR:
This year as I searched for just the right Christmas present for my brother (Dr. Jim Vitale) who moved to Hawaii 20 years ago, I bought Richard Scarcella's recent book, "Memories and Melancholy: Reflections on the Mahoning Valley and Youngstown, Ohio."
What a treasure. As I leafed through it, I underlined sections and wrote comments in the margins on special memories my brother and I (and our family) shared while growing up. I know he is going to enjoy walking down memory lane.
Thank you, Richard, for your dedication to preserving these special memories of the greater Youngstown area and sharing them with us.
JANET UMBEL
Boardman