What Youngstown has to offer

What Youngstown has to offer

Hard times are nothing new to our beloved Mahoning Valley, but we always seem to find a way to endure. Maybe the answer as to how we manage to overcome hardship in difficult times lies in the following essay written by my favorite writer.

His name is Jacob Briggs. He is a senior at Liberty High School. He is also my grandson. I hope your readers find it as uplifting as I have.

Youngstown: A Phoenix and the ashes

Youngstown boast a skyline desperate to grow. Its history is as diverse as the city itself. In its prime, soot rained down and fire shot up, blue torches on a horizon of factory steel. Industry blossomed.

This peak brought the car bombs, the mob and the mischief. Then the industry collapsed. Today things look brighter. Jim Tressel’s philanthropy is evident. The Lemon Grove sponsors music, poetry and culture. The university gives the underprivileged a chance.

I sometimes wonder if I’ll leave. I won’t. The tug of home never weakens.

Youngstown’s bridges, houses, and churches induce serenity. The leaves fall and then fall leaves; later people with higher aspirations follow suit. Still, life goes on and the city remains. It is a gorgeous enigma. Fifth Avenue epitomizes its beauty. The homes of lost wealth sit on both sides, now inhabited by a forgotten middle class.

Then there’s the blight, the carnage, wrecked domiciles missing copper pipe. Potholes threaten like pitfalls.

Youngstown, you are the both the ashes and the Phoenix rising from them. I give you my heart. My memories are spun with threads of you. The chip you put on my shoulder will forever propel forward ... but always back to those old streets scuffed with the treads of my childhood. I give you my all with all you gave me.

Michael Schriner, Youngstown