WIXY's Gone Bananas

First Cold of Season I am suffering through my first cold of the season and being diabetic, I have to be careful about what I take for it. Regarding cough drops, I would like to know whatever happened to Victor's cough drops. I remember taking them about 30 years ago, and they were about the strongest cough drops known to man. About right now, I wish I could find some of those. Another thought that went through my head this evening regarding cough drops concerns the Ricola mystery cougher. This is the person who comes up to you and coughs. If you offer them a Ricola, you could win a million dollars. Nowadays however, you could offer someone you don't know a cough drop, and they may sue you for practicing medicine without a license. George Carlin once asked if you had twenty five odds and ends on a table and twenty four fell off, what would you have left, an odd or an end? MP3 and Moody Radio Yesterday was my birthday, and I got an mp3 player from my wife, and yes you can send...

To the owner of Dom's, a bar on the Corner of S. Main St, and Sterling Ave. in Rittman: The sign on your whiteboard outside of your establishment stating free weight bench to Rittman student athelete was not in good taste at all. While it is true that the Rittman Football team finished this season awith a 1-9 record, the facts are that they did this with largely a freshman and sophomore team. Those young men played with alot of heart this past season. This time last year the school district didn't know if there was even going to be a fall sports program. The entire coaching staff took coaching positions elsewhere, and this year's coaches work full time jobs outside of the school system. Other players who would have been starters on this year's team transferred to other districts to participate in their programs. I don't blame them, as they have to do what they can to possibly get scholarship money for college. For you to put that sign outside of your establishment ...

The Rittman edition of The Post, one of ten community editions of The Post newspapers, from Trogdon Publishing in Rittman, Ohio, took my article of the Rittman Band Show , condensed it, put it on the front page, and gave me the byline. Thanks to the Post for helping give the band the recognition they deserve. Also thanks for keeping my paragraph in there recognizing Ed Sims, Becky Cline and Joe Magnacca, as they have a tendency to not take the credit they deserve. One minor correction, and this is my fault more than anyone elses. The photograph, taken by the way, by my daughter Sylva, was of the awards presentation, and was of all the bands. The Rittman seniors receiving their trophy, are in the picture on the upper right. Support your local band. Rittman tag day is this Saturday, November 4. P.S. To the Worlds Greatest Band Boosters(WGBB). You are now official with that title. It says so in The Post. Also: I am now putting in a plug for my friends at the Rittman IGA, where you can pi...

In the name of journalistic integrity(that may be a contradiction in terms), I am going to clarify something I wrote in another post. In a follow up to my story about the Rittman Band Show, I mentioned about the band being at the playoff game last year. A member of the WGBB(tm) contacted me, concerned that some might think I was giving the boosters too much credit, and the Ohio High School athletic Association, paid for the trip. she wanted to give credit where credit was due. For that appearance, I have to give credit to last year's Rittman football team and their hard work. If anybody was mislead by something I posted, I apologize. Support your local band and sports boosters. In doing so you may make it easy for someone who couldn't afford it to make their high school years go smoother and more enjoyable.

I have read the latest article on Casey Coleman today on Cleveland.com. Things don't look too good for him right now. It's very important now to pray for Casey and his family, that God give them strength for the days that follow. Like everybody else, I'd love to see a miracle, but I know God's in control, and he will continue to get glory from all this. From all I've read, I see Casey had hit the bottle hard in days past. Several years ago Casey gave his heart to the Lord. I remember as a young Christian witnessing to people and telling them that life would be better once you gave your heart to the Lord. I'm glad I never had to try to explain about one who surrenders to God, then gets cancer. But I'm also glad that God has those who can witness His goodness through their suffering. I'm glad that Casey has never publically blamed God for his current situation. I hate cancer. I lost my sister and two aunts to cancer. I've lost many co-workers to canc...

As I await photos from my daughter from the band show, I am building a bridge to my next subject matter. I was going to go the hokey route and award "golden bananas", which would make some sense to some who are younger than 40 years of age, and don't know the significance of my blog title. But right now I am thinking along the lines of heroes, and in the course of the past year, I've seen quite a few heroes cross my path. Back to the Rittman Band. Last November 4, we were coming back on the bus from Rittman's first football playoff game since the eighties, not knowing if there would be a football team or marching band. Voters had turned down the operating levy several times, and fall sports were in danger of being cut altogether. It was then decided by the school board that sports would be pay to participate. Here is where the heroes come in. Enter WGBB, or if you've just tuned in, Worlds Greatest Band Boosters(tm). Due to their fund raising efforts, they wer...

The following is the final edition of "From the pressbox" for the 2006 marching season. Click on photos to get better view, then hit back button to come back to blog. It was with great anticipation and intense preparation that lead th the sixteenth annual Rittman Indians Marching Band Revue. Band director Ed Sims had the band at the stadium early on Saturday to insure that all participants and spectators had an enjoyable time this evening. The field had a drying agent(kitty litter) spread on it, in order to make the field as safe as possible for all student musicians. The (Worlds Greatest) Band Boosters(tm) worked hard in ticket sales, tending to the raffles, and preparing their gourmet fare in the concession stands. Rittman High principal Joe Magnacca was on hand to give moral support to his students, and to help out in trying to baby an ailing public address system(among other things). Six bands were on hand to entertain the faithful tonight. The Manchester Panther Marchi...

Last home football game was played last night against the Dalton Bulldogs. Due to some mitigating factors, the crowd was somewhat sparse tonight. The (worlds greatest) band boosters were in full force, as they were also readying themselves for the band show tonight. Halftime: Due to the field being somewhat soggy because of constant rain for the past few days, both bands stood by the open end of the field, and took turns playing their halftime selections, first Dalton, then Rittman, one by one. Dalton had one of their students announcing, and she had made a mistake, and felt bad about it. I told her that tomorrow she would be the only one that remembered it. Then I made a deposit into my own memory bank when I announced the wrong song. It's been four years since I've done that. I gotta take my own advice. Special note: Brookside was originally scheduled for tonight's band show, but had to cancel their appearance. Their band director had a mild stroke last Friday. Keep hi...

This Saturday, October 21st is the 16th annual Rittman Indian Band Revue. Come to Rittman Stadium and see eight great bands. Participating in this fantastic show will be bands from East Canton, Garaway(Sugarcreek), Manchester, Mogodore, Rootstown, and Vermillion High Schools. Oh yeah, the Rittman Indians Marching Band will be there too. Your master of ceremonies will be the loudest band announcer in Northeast Ohio, moi. Special note: Brookside was originally scheduled to be appearing but had to cance l due to their director having a mild stroke. Pray for him. And speaking of fine dining, which I've done this week, the(world's greatest) Rittman Band Boosters have some great food in their concession stand. Their gourmet menu includes Sloppy Nachos and the world famous Big Chief hot dog. For those interested, I've posted the photo of myself and Dick Goddard on the post about last weekend's show . The staff and management of WIXY's Gone Bananas assume no responsibilit...

I remember in the seventies on Saturday mornings, watching the children shows on CBS, which at the time was WJW, or ei8ht in Cleveland(look at the dot over the "i"). I know at the time I wasn't supposed to watch as I was too old, but cartoons have always been a vahicle of escape for me. In between the shows was a segment called "In the News", narrated by Christopher Glenn. It dealt with current events topics that would be of interest to young people back in those days. Christopher Glenn was also the vioce of the space program for CBS news then. I was checking forums this morning, and on the classic television forum at Radio-info.com , I noticed a thread giving tribute to Christopher Glenn, who passed away yesterday, October 17, at the age of 68. May you rest in peace Chris. Pray for his family.

Updated October 18, 2006 Rittman, Ohio. Population about 6,300, and sometimes it seems that there are that many pizza places there . We also have that mass transit sandwich place and the fast food place, named after male royalty. I am here today to post about two of the finer places in the greater Rittman area. First: The Depot 80 S. Grant Street 330-925-2600 The town of Rittman was named after Frederick B. Rittman, who was the treasurer of The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, so it is fitting that the town has a restaurant inside an old railroad depot. The restrauant itself is very cozy inside, and busy most of the time they're open. They have a basic menu, but the food is very good and prices are reasonable. Best time to go there is for breakfast, but for the health conscious, they have a great chef's salad on their menu. Next: Crawford's Dari Delite and Eatery 1005 E. Ohio Ave. 330-927-3274 Bill and Linda Crawford are probably one of the hardest working couples in Ri...

On Saturday the MrsWIXYmobile took myself and my daughter Sylva, former Rittman marching band member, to Edison High School in Milan for the Edison Marching band review. And we would like to thank Dick Goddard for sending the snow to Buffalo. That has been the only ad libbing that I have done all season, and it went without any stuttering or stammering. The show itself was outstanding. the audience at Edison is always a very good one. Nick Georgiafandis, Edison band director, and his folks put together a great show. I was very impressed with the percussion of just about every band. Eleven bands were at the show . They were from Arlington High School, Ashland Crestview High School, Buckeye Central High School, Liberty Center High School, Norwalk High School, Open Door Christian School, Oregon Clay High School, St. Francis High School, Edison High School Alumni Band, and the host band, Edison High School. Oh yeah, Rittman was there too. Dick Goddard , this weekend, the busiest man in C...

As I've been on a rant of sorts lately, I want to introduce my readers, now well into double figures, to Steve Brown. He has a daily teaching program on WCRF/103.3 called "Key Life". Steve Brown is not your usual bible teacher. He has called some to task in the past, including himself. He is teaching a series currently(he is on at 12:15pm, or available on podcast) called "What Was I Thinking?" The series and the book deals with innacuracies with his past teachings, and how it differs today. He also has a weekly onew hour program called "Steve Brown etc." It is an interview program. As far as I know it is only available in this area on podcast or webcast. If you don't have iTunes on your computer, let me suggest that you get your free download today.

Two books of the Bible immediately come to mind when I think about arrogance. 1 Corinthians and James . I imagine that the apostle Paul probably had his fill of know-it- alls around during his time. And James was handling the holier than thou crowd. We see the same problems today. If you are expecting an expository message, don't. I'm just sharing my heart. You have people nowadays who think that if they have been saved longer, go to the correct church, make more money than you or come from the right region, they are more spiritual than you. Oh, and if you listen to the wrong music, you can't possibly be spiritual at all. Some of the worst name calling comes from folks from different denominations. Baptists call Pentecostals a bunch of "snake handling holy rollers". Freewill Baptists tell Southern Baptists, who are Calvinistic that they believe they "are going to Heaven whether they want to or not." Southern Baptists tell Freewills that they can be ...

I once heard an evangelist say that music is the most carnal part of worship, and in some ways I agree with him. As human beings we sometimes are too selfish to see ministry opportunities in front of us because we don't think God honors "their" style of music. The church my wife grew up in split one time mainly because of musical preferences. Those who founded the church were southern of origin(the founding pastor of the church was from Georgia), so the members for the longest enjoyed four part harmony, quartet singing with just the piano. Well time marches on, people come, others move, some go on. The biggest struggle in life, it seems, is change. Well the pastor the church elected was NOT from the south. The people he reached out to also were not from the south. The music they liked was traditional. A house divided against itself shall not stand. That church to this day has not had a powerful influence on the community. It's been said that "Christians are the o...

This post is directed toward all my Christian friends, and those that I have the privilege of posting with on the national message boards, Radio-Info and Radioinsight. I have long wondered why one style of music is right and another is wrong when they both are used to glorify God? A little bit about myself, at least as far as my walk with the Lord is concerned, I accepted Christ as my savior on June 6, 1980. Immediately before that I was going to a Southern Baptist church with my wife and her family. My wife's family is from West Virginia, and their favorite kind of worship music is Southern Gospel. I grew up in the Lutheran church, where they played mainly hymns, or traditional music. Anyways, when I went to church we heard quartet music, and when the congregation sang, it was in four part harmony. Most were blissfully ignorant, and felt that that was most honoring to God. Most of the people that went to church there were from the south and came to Northeast Ohio to get jobs at Fo...

Hello everybody, I'm 74WIXYgrad, and you're not(apologies to Chevy Chase) From the pressbox : Rittman Homecoming- Rittman played their homecoming game Friday night, against neighboring school Norwayne. Norwayne's marching band is about the same size as Rittman's with a very impressive little drum line. Eric Ratica, Norwayne band director was a drummer, so his emphesis has been to put together a neat drum line. New tunes in this week's program was themes from "Peter Gunn" and "Secret Agent" It was a near flawless performance by both myself and the band. Up nextfor Rittman Band: Next Saturday, we go to Milan for the Edison Festival of Marching Bands. Emceeing this show, will be Dick Goddard. Trip to Nelsonville: This week we took the Mrs. WIXYmobile to Nelsonville to see WIXY jr. in college. I took Adam a meatloaf and some breakfast "burritos". He seems to be doing fine adapting to college life. His biggest adjustment is living with o...

Happy Citizens Band Radio Day! 30 years ago the CB was all the rage. It seemed like everybody all had one. And we had a special language for it. Click here for the special language . Before lol, brb, IMHO, we had the 10-codes. we were also looking for Smoky Bear, seat covers, beavers, and choke and pukes. We also wanted to avoid hag feasts. Click here for 10 codes. See you on the flip flop!

I would like to take a little bit of cyberspace and discuss podcasts. My interest in podcasts recently resurfaced when the local Salem station, WHKW/1220, stopped airing the Dave Ramsey show. Shortly before this occured, I took advantage of the free download of iTunes , and discovered that you can get podcasts of all varieties, some are free, others vary in cost. As I have stressed before, I like to catch some Christian teaching programs on the radio, but sometimes you can't listen when they are on, so I have subscriptions(free of course) of several programs. I just burn CD's off of what I downloaded, take them with me, and listen at my leisure. Oh, and by the way, you don't need an iPod for iTunes, or podcasting. Anything that plays mp3 files will do.

If your name is Becky Cline, and you are the majorette advisor for the Rittman Indians Marching Band, Monday October 2, 2006 is your special day. WIXY's Gone Bananas wants to wish you a very special happy birthday. Note to Roger, Aimee and Nate: If you want to put candles on the cake, please obey this sign