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City honors Girard native for role on game show
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Sarah Melfe , 18, a student at Austintown Fitch High School, poses in front of her acrylic painting at right on display at an art exhibit at the Austintown branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
Staff report
GIRARD
City residents now have a new holiday to celebrate. Mayor James Melfi has declared May 18-24 “Kathleen Bradley Week” in honor of a Girard native who has been a successful Hollywood entertainer the past 45 years.
Bradley, who was a model on “The Price Is Right” from 1990 to 2000, is back in the Youngstown area this week to promote her new book, “The Price is Right: Memoirs of a Barker Beauty.” Bradley met with senior citizens Wednesday at the Girard Multi-Generational Center, where she spoke about her hometown and her career.
“I’m so glad to say I’m from Girard, Ohio, when people ask me where I’m from,” Bradley said. “I do attribute a lot of my success to my hometown and my roots because of the foundation that I’ve gotten here.”
Melfi said he chose to recognize Bradley in this way because of how close-knit the Girard community is.
“We are so proud when one of our own goes out and does great things, and doesn’t forget where they’re from,” the mayor said.
Bradley has the distinction of being both the first African-American model on the television show as well as the first from Ohio.
“It was wonderful. It was rewarding, and it was a great foundation, a stepping stone for me in terms of really getting my feet into the industry,” Bradley said.
Her time on the show was not without its challenges, however. Her 10-year career as a “Barker Beauty” came to a bitter end when she was dismissed by Barker and the show’s producers.
“It was wrongful termination, and I was very disheartened to be off the show. It was not my intention to be off the show, but Bob Barker and the producers there had other ideas,” Bradley said.
“Bob was nowhere around. We were called into Bob’s dressing room, and ... one of the producers said, ‘Hey, we’ve got another opportunity for you. ... However, you will no longer be a Barker Beauty.’” she recalled. “I didn’t believe I was hearing what I was hearing.”
Bradley said she got to know Barker well over the years, and remembers him as being less kind than other people believed him to be.
“He was kind of a bitter guy,” Bradley said. “It was ‘The World According to Bob.’”
Bradley received a warm welcome from the audience, many of whom remembered her from the show.
“We were so thrilled to see her,” said Chuck Reedy, 83, of Boardman. “We gave her a big ‘Come on down!’”
Since her tenure at the show ended nearly 15 years ago, Bradley has been enjoying time with her family at her home in Los Angeles.
Another accomplishment of Girard natives was honored at the event. The Girard Robocats, a group of high-schoolers who compete in national robot-building events, recently won a Spirit Award.
“It [the award] is for how we represent the ideals of the organization,” said Ashraf Hadi, one of the team’s advisers. “If teams need parts, we help them out. It’s not about winning, it’s about inspiring kids in the tech field.”
The team has been known for the excellence of its alumni, two of whom now work at NASA and one who works for Boeing.
“This is what our high-school kids should be doing,” said Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda. “All of the kids over the past 15 years have been college graduates, which speaks highly of the program.”