Hail the workers in our Valley

Some months ago, I was impressed by the work ethic of one of Youngstown’s young workers. He was driving a huge garbage truck for Waste Management and his name was Spencer. In my 91-year lifetime, I have supervised at least 400 employees in both rubber and steel manufacturing. He was picking up the garbage and driving the truck, a one man operation. All I could say was “Wow!” The employees in our Valley were and are great quality workers.

I mentioned this to Spencer and told him he ranked at the top. He then said that he was working on a college degree, in addition to his job, that makes him more impressive in my eyes. I also am very proud of my three young grandsons, Michael Krieger, Patrick Krieger and Jeffrey Vicarel, all college graduates and hard workers. I have great expectations for the younger generation.

As a 13 year old living in the great depression I spent my entire summer vacation as a junk collector at the East Side city dump, six days a week. The menu was rags, glass, aluminum, brass, iron and the highly prized and elusive find, a copper wash tub.

Treasures

Some items found in today’s curbside trash would have been considered treasures during our great depression era, when every discard would have to be carefully scrutinized before pitching it out.

Michael J. Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree and member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.