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Youngstown Connection connects on deeper level
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Some learned about the group through friends or family, others by reputation, but all agree that membership in the Youngstown Connection has made them not only better performers but better people, too.
The singing and dancing group made up of ninth- through 12-graders from the city and surrounding school districts has been invited to perform in Italy at three venues, singing Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, at the Piazza della Signoria in Florence and at Teatro Ghione in Rome.
They hope to go this summer but must raise $60,000 for the trip.
“We already have $31,000 pledged,” said Carol Baird, director of the group, started in 1988. “We’re more than halfway there.”
A pasta-and-meatballs dinner is set for noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Christ Presbyterian Church, corner of Hopkins and Canfield roads, as a fundraiser. The Youngstown Connection will perform, too. The cost is $8 for adults and $6 for children younger than 8. Both eat-in and take-out are available.
Other fundraisers and performances will take place throughout the year. Anyone who wants to contribute to the trip may write a check to the Youngstown Connection and send it to Youngstown City Schools, Attn: Carol Baird, 20 W. Wood St., Youngstown 44503.
This year’s members are Emily Booth, 17, a senior at Austintown Fitch High School; Gary Johnson, 16, a junior at Chaney; Brandon Starcher, 19, a freshman at Youngstown State University; Mikayla Moore, 18, a senior at Chaney; Nick Royal, 15, a sophomore at Fitch; Jacob Ruscitti-Smith, 17, a junior at Fitch; Cameron Lewis, 16, a junior at Fitch; Leigh Carabbia, 15, a sophomore at Boardman High School; Kailynn Anderson, 16, a junior at Boardman; Tatum Johnson, 15, a sophomore at Ursuline High School; Marckese Williams, a senior, and Johnea Butler, a junior, both at Chaney; and Bryanna Landers at Liberty High School.
Booth said Baird taught her to sing like a woman rather than a little girl. She used to screech when she hit higher notes, but Baird helped her correct that.
Royal learned about the group from classmates but was nervous about auditioning. He didn’t think he’d made it and was ecstatic upon learning that he had. “I love to perform and just love making people smile,” he said.
The Youngstown Connection runs in Gary Johnson’s blood.
“The Youngstown Connection is such a wonderful group,” said Johnson, whose father and sister both were members. “I love to sing – I’m not much of a dancer – but I love to sing and love to perform.”
But the group is more than that.
“Our message is peace, love and brotherhood,” he said. “It’s a lovely group to be a part of.”
Starcher recalls a show where that message connected. Group members forgot their tapes, so they had to perform a cappella.
“We went into the audience and we sang, ‘I’ll be there for you,’” Starcher said. “Right after we sang it, a woman looked at me and said, ‘I believe you.’ I was so overjoyed that our message had connected that easily. It’s hard to explain how I felt.”
Members say the Youngstown Connection is about more than just the travel and performances.
“I wanted to surround myself with a better group of people,” Ruscitti-Smith said.
Tatum Johnson, who used to sing on the sidewalk outside his home, prompting strange looks from passers-by, says the Youngstown Connection gives him a place where he belongs. “I have friends that depend on me, and I can depend on them,” he said.
Moore agreed. “It’s a place where I can be myself,” she said.
Carabbia was about to give up on performing after several auditions for school performances didn’t land her any roles. But Anderson urged her to audition for the group.
She did and earned a spot. Now she has more confidence in her talent.
Anderson loves to sing and plans to pursue that as a career. Being part of the group helped boost her confidence, too.
“I used to be insecure about my voice before getting in,” she said.
Lewis said Baird teaches members much more than voice control and dance steps. She helps them broaden their cultural horizons. Lewis thinks of Baird as “the grandma I never had or the mother I never had.”
Baird demands commitment from group members. Rehearsals run after school Wednesday and Saturdays, each lasting for three hours. Members also perform community service.
The director tries to bring out the best in each member as a performer, a student and a human being.
Ruscitti-Smith said that before he joined the Youngstown Connection, he’d rush through any task to get it done without concern for quality. “Now, I want to do everything the best way that I can,” he said. “It’s changed my whole life.”