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Political dinners cook up contrast
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David Betras, Mahoning County Democratic Party chairman.
- Place:Mr Anthony's Banquet Center
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7440 South Ave., Boardman Township
Mahoning Dems invite Springer; GOP gets justice
BOARDMAN
Chants of “Jerry! Jerry!” will likely ring across Mr. Anthony’s on Thursday with Jerry Springer, the host of one of TV’s most outrageous talk shows, serving as guest speaker for the Mahoning County Democratic Party’s annual hall of fame dinner.
In contrast, the Mahoning County Republican Party will have a May 4 fundraiser that is likely to be lower key. Its guest speaker will be Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.
David Betras, Mahoning County Democratic chairman, welcomes Springer.
“I understand he’s a little edgy, but he flies his own plane to the event and writes a nice check” to the party, Betras said.
“He likes the Mahoning Valley a lot. He likes coming here. It will be a lot of fun.”
Springer, who flirted with running for Ohio governor in 2002 and 2006, has hosted other Mahoning Valley Democratic events including Mahoning County’s first hall of fame dinner in 2003, and the party’s spring fling in 2007.
Thursday’s event at Mr. Anthony’s on South Avenue in Boardman is expected to attract about 300 to 400 people, Betras said.
Tickets for a private reception from 5 to 6 p.m. with Springer are $100 each, and tickets for the 6 p.m. dinner cost $50 each.
Those being inducted into the party’s hall of fame are:
• Dr. Richard J. Billak, chief executive officer of Community Corrections Association in Youngstown.
• The Rev. Lonnie Simon Sr., the retired pastor of Youngstown’s New Bethel Baptist Church and a civil rights activist.
• Youngstown State University board trustee Harry Meshel, the former Ohio Democratic Party chairman and Ohio Senate leader.
• Mahoning County Domestic Relations Court Judge Beth A. Smith, the first female elected judge in the county’s history.
“A guy who runs a halfway house, a former ODP chairman and liberal lion, a black minister and a divorce court judge; it sounds like a perfect Jerry Springer show to me,” Betras joked.
Tickets are available by calling the party’s headquarters at 330-799-2959 or John Vivo, the party’s secretary and the event’s coordinator, at 330-719-3869.
Country singer Sarah Turner of Boardman will perform at the dinner.
Springer has hosted “The Jerry Springer Show” for 20 years. The show is known for its outrageous guests who talk about their dysfunctional lives. When a fight breaks out, which is often, the studio audience chants “Jerry! Jerry!”
Proceeds from the event will support party operations, Betras said.
Betras said party officials had been working with representatives of Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated as vice president by a major political party, to have her also speak at the dinner. Ferraro, the failed 1984 Democratic running mate of Walter Mondale, died March 26.
The Mahoning County Republican Party is having a May 4 fundraiser that is likely to be lower key than the Democratic event with Springer.
The Republicans are having their first “Salute to the Judiciary” event at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Social Hall on Via Mount Carmel in Youngstown. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor delivering the keynote speech.
Tickets are $125 each. Reservations can be made by calling Republican headquarters at 330-629-7006.
The proceeds from the event will benefit the party’s judicial fund, said Chairman Mark Munroe. That money can be given to any judicial candidate.
One or two other Supreme Court justices may attend the event, Munroe said.
Several Mahoning County judges will be invited, free of cost, and honored , he said.
“We’d like to have this event annually to raise money in the party’s judicial account so we can provide money for judges during the years they run,” Munroe said. “We hope to start a new tradition.”