We always say a gift of Akron makes the best gift of all!  The St. Vincent-St. Mary Graduating Class of 2010 has created this really cool mural for generations to come.  Thanks to history teacher/assistant football coach Anthony Boarman for sending this to us.  How sweet that they made our downtown store tower over the Akron Art Museum. 

Grandmothers Fan Club cooks up tribute to LeBron

By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal columnist

POSTED: 01:20 p.m. EDT, Apr 30, 2010

Soup’s on.

Well, not so much these days!

Rather, members of the enormously popular LeBron James Grandmothers Fan Club respond much better to ”Game On!”

Seldom do they have time for home cooking anymore, as their plates are full cheering Akron’s homegrown superstar and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA playoffs.

Individually and collectively, the grandmothers — who number 212 and range in age from mid-40s to late 90s — have reserved seats in front of the TV sets at their game-watching haunt, the newly named Sweet 23 restaurant (in honor of LeBron). The former Riverside is at 610 E. Cuyahoga Falls Ave., Akron. When resources allow, the grandmothers go to Quicken Loans Arena.

They keep late hours and burn up the phone lines, staying in touch with each other, talking about game stats. Make no mistake about it, these grannies score an understanding of the game and the terms associated with it — inside the paint, slam dunk, air ball, reach-in foul, pick-and-roll — on par with their male counterparts.

Since producing the just-released LeBron James Grandmothers Fan Club Cook Book, these die-hard fans are finding themselves doing more home cooking than usual. Just not on game night.

Oh, the temptation is there for this fun bunch to throw flour in the air when they do get together in the kitchen, like No. 23 tosses resin powder before each game, said club founder and President Alder Chapman. But the thought of cleaning up the mess cancels that action for the most part.

The cookbook, coordinated and designed by member Patricia Idley of Akron, is a compilation of favorite recipes supplied by the grandmothers. The dishes also pay homage to LeBron and the other players.

It’s divided into five categories — appetizers, soups/salads, pies/cakes/desserts, breads/cookies and main dishes/casseroles — but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the diverse mix of vittles inside.

On the menu

Here are a few of the recipe titles sure to whet your curiosity and your appetite:

• The Chosen One Smothered Chicken, Shaqtus Apple Pie, Green’s Perfect Two-Crust Pie Crust, and In the Paint Brownies — Idley.

• Jawad’s Peach Cobbler, Andy’s ”Wild Thing” Jumalia (that’s jambalaya with a twist) and King James Fried Pies — Chapman.

• Mo’s Breakfast Brunch Cobbler — Beverly Lee of Uniontown.

• Delonte’s Creamy Macaroni & Cheese — Betty Harris of Akron.

• Z’s Cheesy Spinach Burger — Charlotte Buzzelli of Akron.

• Jamison’s Corn Casserole — former Akron Deputy Mayor Dorothy Jackson.

• Jamario’s Black-Eyed Pea Casserole — Honey Bell of Akron.

• Technical Foul Seafood Salad — Annette Hammonds of Akron.

• LeBron’s the King Orange Punch — Donna Grimes of Copley.

• Triple Double Chitterlings — Magnolia Davis of Akron.

• Pick & Roll Heavenly White Cake — Ann Shaheen of Akron.

Chapman is buoyed by the club’s renown and how it’s grown since its 2007 inception — from 20 members to over 200 from as far away as Canton, Cleveland and Columbus — and its racial, religious and socioeconomic diversity.

Akron’s Vivian Lanier, at 97, is the oldest.

”It’s a fun group and it provides good therapy for all of us,” Chapman said.

Team comes first

A more enthusiastic and focused group you’ll never meet.

In fact, if the Cavs are playing on Mother’s Day, don’t look for these grannies to be front and center at any brunch, unless there’s a TV set nearby.

Surprisingly, the grannies in the group who are married prefer not to watch the game with their spouses. ”I’m too loud,” Idley declared.

”As for me, I like my private moments with LeBron,” Ruth Wine — a vegetarian who is the club’s poet — teased.

”We’re very excited about the playoffs,” Chapman said. ”We know we’re going to win, and that LeBron is going to stay with the team! Yeah!”

In other words, the LeBron James Grandmothers Fan Club believes strongly in the song that went to No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1963 — Our Day Will Come.

The lead singer of the ’60s R&B group Ruby and the Romantics, which performed the song, is none other than fan club member and Akron resident Ruby Nash Garnett.

Like the others, Garnett is happy to sing the praises of Akron’s No. 23 on the court and through the cookbook.

The LeBron James Grandmothers Cook Book is on sale in time for Mother’s Day for $15, and the Granny’s Got a Brand New Bag tote is $12. For information, please call Alder Chapman at 330-329-8364 or 330-784-2544; Kattrice McGinnis, 940-224-0775; Patricia Idley, 330-867-8525; or Ruth Wine, 330-714-8883.

Proceeds go to the grandmothers’ projects, like Mentoring Mothers and an outreach for senior citizens who like line dancing.

By the way, these grannies have their own wardrobe of T-shirts honoring their adopted grandson (many of them provided by Nike) and their own license-plate frames.

They also have a cheer:

Grannies Rise Up.Grannies Rise Up.Grannies Rise Up for LBJ!

This may sound a little sad, but one of my (Sarah) favorite parts of the week comes on Friday evening (unless I just DVR and watch later) is E!’s The Soup with Joel McHale. I hate reality TV, but absolutely love dry witty commentary of 10 second clips of ridiculous people. I was quite excited last week when my beloved Joel (no man wears a skinny tie quite like him) played a clip from a show on Tru TV called Over the Limit, a show about belligerent drunks. The clip aired was filmed in Akron. Not only are we one of the biggest meth-producing cities, but now all of America can see us for our drunks. Quite classy. Well, last night there was yet another clip of an intoxicated Akronite. By the arrest occurring on Wheeler St, we’re assuming this is a UA student. If that’s the case, he should probably quit wasting his money on education, because so far its done him no good. And he’s kind of gross. Well, hopefully this exposure can teach some Akronites to behave and know when enough is enough. Laugh and enjoy!

Great video shot last summer by some of Akron’s most creative folks, Todd V & Blue Green. Chrissie Hynde models RCC as she shows off her favorite spots in the Rubber City!

Chrissie Hynde’s Akron from Blue Green on Vimeo.

Photo courtesy of www.TheChiefSource.com

Everyone is a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, right?  Each year the Irish holiday in honor of St. Patrick’s spread of Christianity gets bigger and bigger.  Regardless of your background, it’s always fun to put on some green, have some corned beef & Guinness, and dance an Irish jig.  Akron is home to a fairly large Irish population- even LeBron was Irish for 4 years- so St. Patrick’s Day is always done right in the Rubber City.  Some places started a week-long celebration this past Thursday with Irish music and green beer a flowing, but the official city celebration starts today with the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  Just about every bar in the city will be celebrating the next few days- especially The Barley House downtown.  Make sure you are dressed appropriately!  Pick up our newest design, Ohio Shamrock, or any one of our green t-shirts.  Both stores are open till 7 pm tonight; and the Downtown store will be open Monday-Wednesday to help get you green. 

Here is a great article featuring us, as well as our good friends at CLE Clothing Co and some other really cool NEO-proud companies, from Inside Business magazine:

Tee Times

Hey, you. Yeah, you, hangin’ out all casual-like near the watercooler, waiting to dish about last night’s episode of Lost. If you really want to get people talking, you’ll sport a CleveLand That I Love T-shirt beneath that button-down. “Every time I wear it, I get stopped by people wanting to know where I got it,” says Greg Vlosich, co-owner of GV Art + Design, one of several pro-hometown T-shirt companies sprouting up in Northeast Ohio. “We’re just trying to promote Akron … and show some of the creativity that exists in this town,” says Ed Gaffney Jr., owner of Akron’s Rubber City Clothing. A former analyst for a Wall Street investment bank, he believes pro-hometown T’s are the next big thing. And given that C.L.E. Clothing Co. is about to sell its 10,000th T-shirt, he may be right. So what are you waiting for — the next episode of American Idol? That’s so last decade. — Miranda S. Miller
Who	C.L.E. Clothing Co.	GV Art + Design	Rubber City Clothing	Rusty Waters Apparel
Where	Cleveland	Cleveland	Akron	Cleveland, Youngstown, Pittsburgh
Why pro-hometown T-shirts?	“There’s a resurgence in Cleveland — a food movement, an art movement — we kinda want to be a part of that,” says Kubinski.	“To try and give back to the community,” says Greg, who wants to give a portion of the proceeds to charities and school art programs.	“Location T-shirts run by small startup companies is going to be the next trend,” says Gaffney.	“We wanted to add some local flavor [to our line],” says Chizmar.
Your style	“Fun, hip, trendy, but down-to-earth, and cute, if I can say that as a guy,” says Kubinski.	“It relates to everybody,” says Greg. He’s gotten orders from DJs, rappers, skate shops, churches and community groups.	“We’re not trying to be übercool.”	“Different … experimental,” he says. “We always want to keep positive.”
What should I buy if I want to wear what everyone else is wearing?	C.L.E.’s Heart of It All. The V-neck was their first design and is available in three colors.	The CleveLand That I Love shirt’s block letters make a bold statement. It’s available in three colors and hoodies.	Akron Witnessed First. “I think anybody that follows LeBron James and is from Akron should have one of those shirts.”	“The I hearts with the anatomical heart and the skulls.”
What’s next?	“We weren’t really prepared for what happened last year. You’re probably gonna see our T-shirts in a lot more locations,” says Rees.	“We’re trying to team up with local businesses. We have eight to 10 designs and other Cleveland products.”	Detroit. “We want to go to other cities once we get a solid base here.”	Hoodies and bags. “Getting our apparel in more stores.”
How can we work your T-shirts into our office wardrobe?	As an undershirt	“No one’s going to say ‘no’ to positive Cleveland stuff.”	Bags. “People can carry the spirit of Akron and Rubber City Clothing even if you’re not wearing one of our shirts.”	“A T-shirt under a suit jacket always looks kinda classy.”
How has social media helped your business?	“We wouldn’t exist without it. Our marketing budget last year was $75. Twitter is an amazing thing,” says Rees.	“Facebook and the Web site have helped out a lot. We’re still learning, but it’s starting to take off.”	“Facebook builds an awareness … and allows us to go to market very quickly when we come out with new merchandise.”	“We’re trying to use it for feedback on designs.”
Famous sightings	Lollapalooza in Chicago	The Cleveland Browns defense ordered the Browns shirt last year.	“We’re the official retailer for the Pretenders.”	Cleveland native and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Chris Chambers

Did you know that Akron is home to the All-American Soap Box Derby?  Sadly, this is a fact that a lot of people seem to have forgotten.  I recall working at Summit Mall in high school, and meeting out-of-towners who would ask about things to do while visiting Akron.  I found myself asking, ‘why on earth would someone vacation in Akron, Ohio?’  Well, these out-of-towners were here for the Soap Box Derby World Championships.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who appreciate the Derby Downs hill located just off of George Washington Blvd in Ellet/Springfield.  One of those people is Corbin Bernsen.

If you’ve ever watched Psych, LA Law, or even Major League- you’d know Corbin Bernsen; his role as Roger Dorn- a guy who thought he was too good for the Cleveland Indians was classic.  Corbin has a great TV and movie career under his belt, and now he is putting his talent and money to a project that will greatly impact Akron.  After reading a newspaper article about the struggling All-American Soap Box Derby here in Akron, Corbin felt that the derby was an American pastime that was worth saving.  To help raise awareness, he has gone a route he knows very well, a new film titled 25 Hill.  He has written a script, and plans on directing and producing the movie; but it has been a bit of a struggle to get necessary funding.  Luckily, the project has been greenlit, and filming may begin in Akron as early as April 5.  Though still in negotiations, a house in Silver Lake will serve has one major filming location.  Some of the casting may be done locally.

We’re really excited to see what 25 Hill will do for the AASBD & Akron.  Only good things can come from this!

Yesterday I complained foolishly about the snow & Mother Nature’s yearly beating we get each winter.  When I turned on the news this morning, I felt like a real jerk…we could have it so much worse.  For the second time in little over a month, the western hemisphere has been struck by a catastrophic earthquake- this time 8.8 on the Richter scale.  Now before someone raises a stink about us not having blogged about the tragedy in Haiti- if you’ll notice, we really didn’t do much blogging last month due to transitions/movements.  What happened in Haiti was terrible, and it is really great how much of the world has banded together to raise money, food, supplies, and volunteer work to help the people in need.  Now sadly, the same is needed in Chile, where the 8.8 quake hit.  It is still too early on to tell what kind of damage has been done and the number of lives affected.  As soon as I heard, I contacted a friend in New York who has friends & family in Chile- he hasn’t been able to reach them.  Plus, the earthquake is not the only tragedy today; because of the magnitude of the earthquake, waves traveling at the speed of an air jetliner are headed toward Hawaii- a tsunami is coming.  Safety warnings have gone out in Hawaii, California, and all the way up the coast to Alaska.  The tsunami is expected to hit Hawaii at 11:19am local time, 4:19pm EST.  We can only hope and pray that people find safe shelter from the storm.

Yesterday we got in t-shirts for a benefit at Musica, “Akron Rocks for Haiti”.  A great mix of local musicians are getting together to raise funds & awareness for the American Red Cross/Haiti Relief fund, including Umojah Nation, House Popes, Ryan Humbert, Roxxymoron, Freez-R-Burn, and Peep.  I was planning to blog about them today, little did I realize there would be much more to talk about.  It’s likely that relief & aid for Chile & the Pacific will be addressed at the show as well.  If you haven’t contributed to the relief efforts in Haiti, now is the time.  The Red Cross will be in need of more supplies/funds/help due to today’s events.  Call your local American Red Cross (there’s one on West Market St), Google, find out how you can help.

We are now four weeks into our sort-of new venture of Rubber City Clothing- Highland Square.  Since April 2009, the store had been known as Made in Akron- a fine retail shop featuring an eclectic mix of local art, jewelery, clothing, food souvenirs, and just about anything and everything Akron.  When we decided to change the name at the end of January, we were met with mixed emotions.  On top of that, Elizabeth and Kelly- who had managed this store and kept its eclectic mix in great order- moved on to some bigger & better things in their lives- Kelly moved to the Steel City & is happily in love; and Elizabeth is busy promoting and running her new eatery, Urban Eats which just opened within Musica serving mouthwatering paninis and flatbread pizzas.  Plus, we cut the winter hours down to Thursday-Saturday, 11am-7pm till Mother Nature stops beating us with snow.  So many questions came pouring in: Are you closing?  Are you getting rid of the art?  Who will run it now?  Well, the answers are No, no, and Sarah from downtown.  We are here to stay in Highland Square- still promoting the hell out of Akron- just now with more clothing.  We still have all of the jewelry, food, souvenirs, accessories, music, and most of the art- we’re going to take a more gallery approach and feature different artists for certain periods of time.  We’ve got a great new layout that presents our favorite art, screen-printed t’s in a much better way.  More sizes and colors available now too!  If you haven’t been down to the revamped store on South Highland Ave, come check it out!   We’re here Thur-Sat, 11am-7pm.  You can always shop online- www.RubberCityClothing.com or www.MadeinAkron.com 24/7.

By Sarah G (since there are a bunch of us bullsheeters now)

As I’ve mentioned many, many times before, growing up, I HATED Akron.  You might say I was quite miserable with my hometown.  Once I moved out of state and was away for a few years, I oddly began to miss the Rubber City.  That sense of longing grew to love, and after moving back two years ago, I am happily committed to Akron (got a pre-nup just in case).  I can honestly say- and not because I work for a company based on “Akron-pride”- that I truly love this city.  So I was a bit ticked off this morning when I read a little article in the Beacon about an article in Forbes Magazine ranking the “Top 20 Most Miserable Cities in America”, with Akron at #12.  In fact, someone at Forbes must really hate the Buckeye State, because Cleveland was #1, Canton #9, Toledo #15, and Youngstown #18.  Other cities on the list include Memphis, TN; Detroit and Flint, MI; New York City; Miami, FL; and Chicago.  The ABJ front-page article on the matter featured some commentary from  our own Ed Gaffney Jr & a pic of Natalie aka Chrissie B Hynde in our Downtown store.

If Akron is SOOOOOOO miserable, why is it that I can think of at least a dozen friends that moved away from Akron only to move back because they missed it?  Or better yet, why is it that we have not one, but SIX companies devoted to Akron pride: Rubber City Clothing, Revivalist, Campfire, 10x Your City, RockEveryWear, and Made in Akron, and all are doing pretty well.  For the last year and a half, I have lived & breathed Akron.  I meet all kinds of people that live here, are from here, or are just visiting, and RARELY is it that I hear anti-Akron bashing.  Sure this city isn’t perfect, but no place is.  I’m really curious as to the deciding factors that the geniuses at Forbes used to compile this list.  There are hundreds of other cities that probably don’t have the parks, restaurants, nightlife, local shops, industries, historic homes, and really awesome t-shirts that Akron does.  Who does Forbes think they are?  I can’t rely on the opinion of a company run by that goofy looking guy that tried to run for President & wasn’t funny hosting SNL.

We have much love for our fellow list-makers- especially Cleveland.  Thousands of CLE Clothing Co. shirts sold over the holidays don’t lie.  Let’s show Forbes how NON-MISERABLE this town is; on March 12th (funny number), Akron will be 185 years old.  Let’s make that Akron day!  Where Akron shirts, support local business, and make sure EVERYONE knows how much you love this city.  I’m going to look into this Akron Day stuff.  Anyone with tips/suggestions, please comment on how to get this thing moving!