As a recent transplant from the deep south, my Mama had one thing to say when I told her I was coming north, “Honey, it must be love... you moved to Cleveland!”
I first came here for a beautiful May weekend. We did the tourist thing – the Rock Hall, the beach... I had no idea Cleveland had beaches... There was great food from the talented chefs and mom and pop restaurants throughout the city. And then there was a beautiful vista from the deck of a house in Tremont. In only a brief time, I fell in love with Tremont as much as I fell in love with the man who grew up in Lakewood and had returned to make Cleveland his home.When I moved to Cleveland lock, stock and barrel in the Fall of 2010 – there were Indians games, concerts at Blossom, and a very cool, eclectic neighborhood to walk in on cool evenings. And wow, the West Side Market. A foodie mecca. Not to mention so much pride and history, I couldn't believe I'd never been here before.
Leaving the south, where I'd lived most of my life, for what is really the largest city I've ever lived in, was a tough decision made easier by the fact that the people who make the City of Cleveland home have so much passion and promise. I've met enthusiastic entrepreneurs, hopeful students, hard working blue collar folks and starched business executives in my neighborhood, and each of them sees what Tremont and downtown can be. They protect that dream, and in so many ways they live it.Work in my field was scarce, so I decided to take my small part time wine business and devote the effort to growing a Cleveland based clientele for tastings, pairing events and eventually, the first public Wine and Cupcakes event in October, 2011. The restaurants, wine bars and bakers and caterers here in the city have been mostly welcoming and helpful as business has grown to include private, corporate and monthly public tastings. When I rebranded the business in the summer of 2011, I chose a name that reflected my adopted state of Ohio, rather than the southern roots that are so obvious in my speech. MissWineOH has been welcomed with open arms.
Folks back home ask me all the time why I'd move to a city that tends to freeze over in the winter – a city with political corruption, crime, and well, issues. I say they don't know Cleveland.Problems exist in every city – but not every city is investing heart and soul, and dollars, into the future. Cleveland is revitalizing, and taking steps to do it well. Friends who visit here like it and want to return. Boomerangs are returning in large numbers and companies are drawing new talent to the area.Entrepreneurs across many industries are flourishing here. There are all sorts of business owners just like me, making it happen with the help of an incredibly vibrant, diverse and supportive population. There is room for more – and with hard work and the gritty determination Cleveland is known for – much like southern women – city living is everything it should be. It is love. For a Cleveland man, and this city on the lake. There's no mistake here.
This time of year, we Irish tend to wax poetic. The nostalgia of our past, the heartbeat of our songs and our stories, has fertile ground all year long for a country so shaped by emigration and strife, but it has new energy and searching around the gatherings and significance of the St. Patrick’s season.
I could be talking about America, I could be talking about Ireland; they are indelibly linked. We can’t go back, so all year long, but especially around St. Patrick’s Day, we bring a little bit of Ireland here to Cleveland.
The longing for love that echoes thru February gives way to trademark Irish longing for connection, roots past and present, that steals our hearts and shapes our journey. We recognize the nostalgia, give nod to the tuggings, but it has never stopped people from going forward, to new lands, higher ground, and an ever growing legacy of refusing to accept today as enough. We are a people who firmly and actively believe in paying it forward.
Call it Catholic guilt, the Immigrant’s Inspiration (to do better) or the simple crafting of our lives shaped by past struggle; we do not stop going forward. Cleveland, and the world, have been so shaped by the Irish Diaspora that it has become seamless into each’s own history. All across America, it is no different.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is great and the music brilliant, but it is the family that unites us all. God, relations, and friends - these are what has carried us through starvation and immigration, achievement and paying it back, and forward. Now we say thanks, and celebrate the gifts we have received.
Cleveland has welcomed so many nationalities through offering an opportunity to stand on your own two feet and build a life by your character and your efforts. It still does. We read earlier this year about the opening of the Welcome Center, and Positively Cleveland is doing remarkable work from their new location on Euclid.
So please let me take this opportunity to wish all Clevelanders a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and the start of March’s Irish Heritage Month. Thank you for making our community, part of your community. The green season is at the forefront this month, but don’t forget the man himself; Ireland’s patron saint. St. Patrick. Yes, St. Patrick was a man; so if you must shorten it, please replace your Patty with Paddy.
Does it matter? Sure it does, for two reasons; you don’t misspell someone’s name deliberately, or call a man a woman; it’s rude. Secondly, most importantly, and maybe without your knowledge, calling an Irishman a Paddy has strong historical connotations, almost all of them negative. For a long time, Paddy, like “Mick” was a pejorative term aimed at Irish immigrants, mostly by American’s who may have only a generation or three in America, but considered themselves natives. The “Irish Need Not Apply” signs are a dark mark part of American history, indelibly tainting both the sign maker and the sign holder.
The events throughout Cleveland on and around St. Patrick’s Day are overwhelming positive, diverse and capture the essence of the Irish in music, dance, history and hope. The shear volume of special events coming up this month highlight the rich and varied culture that hasn’t just survived, but has thrived. This is the 145th St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the nation’s 5th oldest. Ireland is a country of four million that has a Diaspora of over 400 million – over 400 million satisfied customers cannot be wrong!
In America, we are in recovery and inch by inch, row by row, we make this garden grow. Enjoy Irish History Month, and learn a bit of Irish history while you’re at it – it is indelibly linked with our American heritage. God willing, spring is just around the corner
Hope to see you Out & About,
John
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