First Night Memories

Thanks to everyone for making our premiere at First Night Akron the best. As promised, we have scanned the quilt blocks created by our visitors for you to enjoy. Revisit the fun you had at first night and read about the memories shared of living, working, and playing in Akron. What a great community! Let’s count our blessings and enjoy this New Year. Have an awesome 2010 everyone! Remember - Life is a lot like a quilt. Once all the pieces come together they produce a lovely work.

Andy January, of January Paint and Wallpaper, shared this memory with us on his radio show “My Beautiful Home”.

When I was a kid, our family subscribed to both The Akron Beacon Journal and The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Back Then, the Beacon carrier would walk the neighborhood every afternoon with his bag slung over his shoulder, delivering news to Akron’s waiting citizens. And every Saturday morning he’d come by to collect that huge 55-cent weekly newspaper bill.

The Plain Dealer was different. The carrier worked his route by car so the only time we saw him was when he came around every 90 days to collect $7. This bothered my mom who preferred to pay in smaller increments. One day, she asked him why he came by so infrequently. He said there were so few subscribers in the area that it didn’t warrant a collection trip but once a quarter. She suggested that he get some kid in the neighborhood to do the collecting. He said no one would work for such a little bit of money. Her response to that was, “Hey, Andy, come here.” Thus began my career at the early age of 8 1/2.

I made about $2 per week. That was great money for a third-grader in 1954. It saved my mother my 30 cents weekly allowance, which was half the Beacon bill, and it laid a strong foundation for a business career. The secret to success, I learned, was to start early and be persistent. I also learned a valuable life lesson: I could get what I want by talking. I haven’t stopped since.

Andy’s show can be heard on 1590 WAKR Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. Thanks Andy for the wonderful memory!