No, rest assured that they didn't hire me. On the contrary, because of this blog, they would like to drag me in front of an eager district magistrate, and throw the book at me.
However, they did hire my father's Uncle Harry in about 1935. At that time, same time that they were building the magnificent WPA structures which the city is now allowing to go to seed, Earl Price was the City Forester, and in charge of maintaining the parks.
By 1900, my great grandparents and all their offspring were living in the Ward. I'm now the last Molovinsky left in Allentown, so this blog cannot embarrass any family members. It can, however, if I do my job correctly, cause some distress among those who are failing to properly honor the city's history.
Harry Molovinsky is in the back row, fifth from the right, in the light colored jacket.
use of photo courtesy of the Price family
Speaking of not honoring the city's history, I’m extremely disappointed in the decision to cancel the Halloween Parade just as we move into fall, with very little to no real opportunity for public input. The parade has been one of the great things about living in Allentown and ties together the generations who live here.
ReplyDeleteIt's an event that could be attended by all, no matter what age or health condition. I know of many residents who dropped off their elderly parents (or grandparents) before the parade started, and would then park their cars and watch the parade together as a family (along with their children). I know those elderly residents won't be participating in a walking parade or sitting downtown to watch a movie that came out five years ago.
The paper notes that attendance has been dwindling in recent years. I would argue that if this is the case it has more to do with the city moving the date of the parade to mid-October instead of the traditional last Sunday of the month. Not only was that change unattractive to parade attendees, I'm sure it also presented problems for those who prepare floats and participate in multiple local parades, as I doubt they want to worry about storing and maintaining a float for over two weeks.
This should not have been an either/or decision. If the city wanted to do a walking parade and kids’ movie, it could have done so without canceling the parade. It's not often the city has the recognition for having one of the oldest of anything, as it does with the Halloween Parade, and this decision is incredibly short-sighted. Discussions should have been had about making the parade bigger and better instead of canceling it.
I hope that this decision will be quickly reversed, and the parade will go on as usual.
anon@1:39, I think that if you would attend a city council meeting, view them and administration members present, you'll realize that old Allentown traditions are not part of their DNA. I do however wish you and anyone else willing to take up the parade banner good luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the lovely picture Mr. Molovinsky. I am amazing at how well-dressed all the individuals are in this snapshot, even the child. All of them have collared shirts and headwear. This is how they dressed for work. A completely different time and mindset from today's society. I think I would have enjoyed living then. Thank you again. Alex
ReplyDeleteI also find it interesting that Lights in the Parkway is also being threatened. According to the city, they’re concerned with “neighborhood disruption”.
ReplyDeleteThey haven’t seemed all that concerned with that that for 25 years, but now that they've allowed two high-rise apartments to blight the Parkway near Schreiber’s Bridge, it seems to be a problem.
What a coincidence!
For some reason, reading your news items on Allentown brings to my mind the late singer Merle Haggard: "...rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell."
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