Welcome to the 100th episode of Around Akron with Blue Green.

And yes, we have an amazing episode ahead of us today.

I'm headed to downtown Akron to visit K.C.

Curry and her open comedy mic, which has been running for three years.

Then I meet up with Pat's Relics Room to learn all about Native American artifacts from right here in northeastern Ohio.

Then it's over to Mantua to meet up with Bill Starcher Art, who makes amazing pieces of artwork out of motorcycle tires and silverware.

Now to kick the 100th episode off today I'm going to meet with Coach Dan, who's dedicated his life to teaching tennis and keeping kids off of drugs.

Let's go see what Coach Dan is all about.

- No desire to play tennis, learn tennis, or do anything with tennis.

You know, growing up, I grew up in the projects in North Akron, and we had tennis courts there, but nobody played tennis on them, we played baseball and did other things that I can't mention on those courts.

But, tennis became important to me in 1975 when, you know, I met the Lord and got saved and I had to do something other than running bars and doing drugs and drinking and, so I was pretty bored, and a buddy of mine in the projects came up to me and said, “Hey, you want to play tennis?” You know, I was at football practice down at the park.

You know, where those courts are.

And I said, “Come on, man, tennis is a sissy sport.” “It’s a white man's sport.” You know, black people don't play tennis.

He said, “Oh, come on, give it a try.” So I did.

And interestingly enough, I really liked it, so.

And I happened to be pretty good at it right away.

I don't know if it was from my, ping pong, you know, background or what, but that's what started it.

I lived on Edgewood Avenue, which is very close to here, and the tennis courts are right down there.

You know, like two minutes walking distance from my house.

And those courts were packed with people at all the time.

This used to be kind of like the Mecca for tennis.

Those tennis courts there, you know, they called it Edgewood or the Akron Zoo Courts.

But most of us just called it Edgewood.

But I would, after I learned with this buddy of mine, I would go down there and try to play, but they wouldn't let me.

They ran me off and said, hey, you know, you're, you know, there was such a pecking order and hierarchy on those courts.

They had a new person like me they wouldn't even let on, you know, they wouldn't play with me.

And one guy really made me angry.

He said, “You need to go and play behind the IGA.” Which is now Save A Lot, which is now Kirk Park, because nobody played there.

They said, “You need to go up there and play.” So I was so angry.

I tell that guy said, “You know what, one day I'm going to come back here and beat all of you.” And in about a year and a half, I did.

I came back one day, I beat everybody down there that I played.

Then I went on and, you know, became certified and start teaching kids.

But 25 is a late start.

Yeah, but, you know, when you don't have anything else to do and you don't want to go back to your old lifestyle, you know, I really just threw myself into tennis.

I was playing one day, and, you know, by that time I was very good.

So I was allowed to play and everybody wanted to play with me.

But we, I was playing doubles.

And as I looked behind me, there were these two black kids that I'd never seen before.

And I knew all the kids in the neighborhood.

They'd walk up and down the street because there were projects there in those days.

But, I never seen these two kids before.

And they were peering at me, Blue.

Every time I turned around to pick up a ball, they'd be staring at me.

They didn't move, and I kept looking at them, thinking, what's up with these kids?

They didn't look at anyone else.

All they did was stare at me.

And so I got to thinking, well, what's, I don't know, these kids, what are they doing here?

And why did they keep looking at me?

So then I heard this voice in my head say, start a program for kids are like them.

And I said, wow.

So I continue to play.

They stayed there.

And then finally I turned around one time and they were gone.

I bartered a membership, private membership with Ball Street Racket Club.

And I said, “Look, I’ll teach tennis here for you if you give me a free private membership.” So they agreed.

And on that first day of me teaching tennis, one lady in the group, her name was Ann Marie Barnes.

We got to talking and she had shared that she had been, I think, what it was called in those days, the VISTA Program, where she volunteered on Native American reservations when she was in college.

So she had this huge heart for people.

And I said, “Well, you know, one day I think I need to start a program for kids for tennis.” Because I'm thinking of those two kids, right?

So she said, “Oh, great, when are you going to do it?” And I said, “Well, you know, I'll get around to it.” And man, I tell you every single lesson she bugged me and bugged me.

And she was like a gnat, just irritating.

And I finally said, “Okay, I'm going to start it.” And because of her, I started a program.

I went back to where I grew up in Elizabeth Park, the projects, there were still projects there because I knew there were a lot of kids there, they’re all African-American.

And, I said, there’s a lot of talent there, because I grew up there, and I said, “I'm going to start a program right here.” And so she said, “Well, can I help you?” So she gave me a few hundred dollars to buy rackets and balls for the kids, and she said, I'll help you.

So that's how we started, only because she just bugged me to death.

And then we went on to become a nationally recognized program.

And I was, I've been able to speak all around the country about grassroots tennis and tennis instruction and so forth.

I've even spoken at the U.S.

Open twice.

But because I added a drug prevention component to my program, again, I was a drug prevention specialist.

We started to get grants, federal grants because of the prevention piece.

In fact, what set my program apart, even from Arthur Ashe’s, is because at the time, Arthur Ashe’s program was the, you know, the gold standard, right?

But what people began to understand was that in my program, I dealt with poor kids.

Arthur Ashe’s program dealt with middle class and upper class kids.

That's a huge difference.

But because of the drug prevention component, I was able to get more funding.

And we grew and grew and grew.

And the next thing I know, I was being asked to speak everywhere, even at the like I said, at the Coaches Convention after U.S.

Open twice.

So that's how all that happened.

It's just, I’m just this kid from the projects.

All I wanted was this nice little program at Edgewood, at Elizabeth Park.

That's all I wanted.

- Next up, it's off to downtown Akron to meet up with K.C.

Curry at the Daily Pressed to see where her third year in running comedy open mic is all about.

- I was raised in the 70s and 80s.

When we had all the really good serial killers.

You know, like before DNA, forensic pathology.

They would just go around and kill them and kill them and kill them.

Because my kids, one was in college and one was driving.

So I was just thinking about what, what is it that I wanted to do?

So my kids were both in speech and debate, and I was a judge.

Every Saturday I was out there judging these tournaments for speech and debate.

My son was in humorous interpretation, like, you know what, I'm going to circle back to comedy.

The speech and debate thing was just kind of inspirational because they are performing, they are learning.

They are, you know, so it kind of sparked that for me.

Hello, Daily Pressed, how are you guys doing tonight?

Welcome to— Wooo!

And the crowd goes wild.

Growing up I was very influenced by Saturday Night Live by Gilda Radner, by Lily Tomlin, by Bette Midler.

Okay?

Because I, you know, there was all of these male comics and it was like, I gravitated towards these women, you know?

I like the— They do a lot of characters, like just, you know, sitting in my basement by myself when I'm going through stuff, you know, like, I'll do voices.

I'll get into characters.

And I'm thinking, I really need to bring that to the stage because it was such a huge influence on me as a kid.

For me, I would like to see true crime in tiny houses.

You know?

Tiny house on the side.

Evil crimes, tiny house.

You know, one shot by day.

It's a tiny house.

Yeah.

It was actually Patrick Madison and I. He wanted to do an open mic, and I wanted to do an open mic.

Now, I just started in 22, like, December of 22.

This is like the summer of 23.

So Patrick Madison and I started this in like June or July of 23 and he moved on.

He's doing other things now, like the Double Chuckle Comedy Tour and all that.

So I kept on myself.

So I’ve been doing, I think like September, I started solo and I'd been doing it every week, every Tuesday since like June of 2023.

So like three years here.

It's thrilling for me because I know what it's like to go on stage for the very first time.

What I like about this room is that it's welcoming and open and encouraging, because we've had people up here on this mice.

We’ll watch you perform or be like, I'm going up.

And then their confidence just dies once you get on the other side of that mic.

I love it that when they tell their jokes or when they're frozen, they recenter, they remember that joke and they follow through.

And sometimes the follow through is the most important thing, not the joke landing necessarily, but that they told it, you know, because that builds their confidence.

And then they come back the next week.

And not only do they tell that joke, they wrote three more and they're going to try it again.

Alright you guys I want to welcome you all here for the Comedy Open Mic tonight.

Give me some love.

Give me some energy.

There have been plenty of comedians who have flourished locally that told their first joke on this stage.

You know?

And there are a lot of headliners and touring comics that come through when they're working on new material.

If they happen to see a show at Hilarities, or the Funny Stop here or other local places, they'll come through this open mic because I am so consistently here.

They know that on a Tuesday they come in, try their new material.

So and I've had nights that the headliners have been here with the person that told their first joke.

That's the beautiful thing about this mic, because you don't know who's going to walk in the door.

I’m a Gemini and statistically a large majority of serial killers are Geminis too.

And, I'm getting kind of, I'm a little worried, like, maybe I'm a serial killer.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, maybe I am a serial killer.

I love doing this.

It is so cathartic for me.

And it's like the open mic especially because you kind of work through things like going to therapy that this open mic is— It's therapy for a lot of people that aren't really doing shows.

They just, or they're just open mics.

They want to— It's good for their soul.

It's good for their mind.

It's good for their life.

It makes them happier.

It's a good release, and laughter is a good release.

Hey, this is a free comedy open mic, you don't have to pay to come here.

So that is also nice that, you know, people can come here for free and see funny people and you don't know who's going to walk in the door.

- Next up, it's Pat's Relics Room to learn all about Native American artifacts right here in northeastern Ohio.

- Started looking in 1995.

I worked for CSX railroads, and I was on a Thai unit.

We were west of Lodi, Ohio, and all my friends kept running out in the field every time at lunch time, we were right by the Black River.

And the farmers had just plowed the spring, turned the fields over, and I thought that they were into illegal activities maybe.

Lo and behold, when I tagged with them, they said, “No we’re looking for arrowheads.” And I tagged and picked up every pointy rock and got pushed away like a four year old kid.

And then I found one and I became addicted.

The first farm that I went to was, farmer by the name of Marv Gordon.

Marv would always sit out underneat an old oak tree.

I'm looking for permission.

Places to hunt.

They just deep plowed this farm.

I stopped up to see him, and I said, “Do you mind if I look for arrowheads?” He says, “You have my permission.” He says, “But I've been farming this property for 47 years, and I never found an arrowhead.” Well, I found over 350 arrowheads on— This is a small ridge about 50ft long, by about 50ft wide.

And every day when I find them, I go up and they'd be sitting up underneath the tree, and I say, “Marv, this is what I found today.” Meadowcroft rock shelter down off the Ohio River, southern Ohio, southern eastern Ohio has dates to 17,500 carbon date.

So I'm 95 miles away from Meadowcroft, right?

So there's a good chance that the points are older than the Clovis-First Theory.

Clovis being a type of a paleo point that they found in Clovis, New Mexico, that they dated at about 10,000 BC.

And all of the professionals who was Clovis first.

Now, when they come across a place like Meadowcroft, that just blew their theory and all their publications.

But it's amazing a point that, for example, in my area is called a Newton Falls archaic side notch.

It dates about 7500 BC.

You could go to Indiana and find it, and they might call it a Godar.

You go to Kentucky and it is a Big Sandy.

So you have your regional names, but all will have the same dates because how they get the, the name and the dates when they do an excavation.

And they get in the soil and it's not been disturbed, they find a point on a certain level and they have a piece of corn.

Something is digging carbonate.

That's how they get the time period, what associated with the point.

And then the name is regional for, they found it on the McKibben site.

So it's a McKibben style point.

It took them all the time to build that shaft, not the point.

Everyone thinks, oh, it takes so long to make an arrowhead and, somebody can map out and arrowhead in, you know, a half hour.

But to make that shaft, that takes time.

So they would use white ash, turkey feathers to steady the flight and send you from a deer to do the lashings of the feathers and the holding at the point to use some sort of pine pitch to glue it in.

So what they would do is they would, the end of the where they would put the point that would been, hollowed out and they would have had a smaller shaft, they might have had a half a dozen.

They stick a big beast, they're able to pull that out and then reset another point.

That was the first rapid fire.

And it would be sturdier because how it's cut off and blunt and you're putting that nipple of, another dart into it.

If something happened, you didn't ruin your shaft.

How can we find so many of these when they were so important to that culture for their survival?

How can they be so careless with something like this?

That was my ignorance.

In reality, you didn't have a horse.

The average age of the pieces in my collection are between around 5000 BC, oldest being the Paleo Period.

So you're talking about 12 to 14,000 years ago.

So they've just lost one over.

You have a lot in that field.

But what they would do is they buried them in storage bins because they were following herds.

They were hunter gatherers until they finally settled down in the late archaic period.

So they would take what they needed to get to the next spot, and then they would dig up the cache of blades, stone tools and things that were so cumbersome to carry, but they needed.

They only had enough on them to get them from point A to point B, and then they find it.

Well, something happened to that particular plan.

Now, hundreds of years later, here comes a farmer with a plow, and he scatters that cache over that sandy ridge.

And that's what you find useful.

For people who are into this, creeks, they walked creeks and riverbeds.

Stay away from state and federal grounds, it’s against the law.

So stay away from that, but on rivers, as, the river erodes, cuts into that bank.

It's now cut into campsites that were one time right along the edge and all those relics go down into the creek.

And if you have a creek that has gravel bars, that's where you’ll have success.

- Now to wrap up this show today, I was in Goodwill parking lot, and I saw a truck with a literal dinosaur on the back of it.

And I thought, I gotta get this man on the show.

The universe put us together.

So it's off to Mantua, Ohio to meet up with Bill Starcher’s Art.

You just got to see this one.

Let's go see what Bill Starcher’s Art is all about.

- When I was a young kid, I always wanted to do something outside the box.

Even in when I was in school, they wanted me to make a screwdriver in metal shop.

So we do some lathe and stuff.

And, the woodshop teacher wanted us to make a shelf, and I didn't want to make either one, so I talked to two of them into letting me make a cannon.

Between woodshop and metal shop and the only stipulation was they can't fire.

It was always something different.

My mom taught us how to sew when we were little kids, and she made Halloween costumes for us, and she used patterns.

But later on, when I got a little, oh, maybe 18, 20 years old, I started trying to make my own Halloween costumes just off the cuff, and I would put a projector on the wall and project what I wanted, and that would be the half of the pattern.

And then I would make it three dimensional.

So that's probably where I started doing some kind of sculpting.

About ten years ago, I went to a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum down in Florida in Orlando,.

And they had a mermaid there made out of butter knives, and I was awestruck.

I thought, that’s the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life.

I was spurred by it so much that I started buying silverware when we were going to the flea markets down there, and I brought back about 200 pounds of silverware the first time, and I made a fish about this long.

And then an eagle and then a crocodile or spoon-a-gator, I should say, because he was made out of spoons.

And it was a seven footer.

And then I went to another Ripley's a few years later and they had a lion made out of motorcycle tires.

And my wife looked at that and said, “You're going to try that next, aren’t you?” And I said, “I can't wait to get home.” So when I got home, all the way home, I was looking at the tires on the side of the road, thinking I should pick them up, but I found out tires are the easiest thing in the world to get.

You go to any motorcycle shop.

They have to pay to get rid of them.

They're happy to give them to you.

The reason I do motorcycle tires and golf cart tires and four Wheeler tires is they don't have steel belts in them.

If you wanted to call it art and you just put the things together with steel belted tires, and most people can't touch art, they just get to look at it.

But I use those tires because steel belts, when you cut them with a bandsaw, the little tips will stick out and they're like little razor blades.

So that's why I don't use them so the kids can actually climb on art.

And I think that's the coolest thing where they have to, where they get to interact with art, because most of the time they can just look at it.

In fact, that's what I tell the kids when they're looking at 20 or 22 books of things that I've made for 50 years when I go to a school.

And they're like, oh, cool, look at this.

And they're passing them back and forth.

And then, when they start slowing down and I see they've seen all the books, I'll tell them that most people don't let you touch their art, but my art, you can kick it, you can punch it, you can climb on it.

And they're like, “We can climb on it?

!” And they're right up there.

And of course, I get a couple teacher's aides to help out, and I watch them real close and probably a low estimate, I've had 80,000 kids climbing on my art.

Well, I also go to senior centers, too.

And the old people that have never even seen stuff like this like this in their entire life, they might be 80 and 90 years old and never seen anything like this.

And when I go, there... Well, for instance, the one in Ravenna here, I went there and there’s a playground right next to the senior center.

And it's too far away for the people to see the kids down there playing.

But the kids saw me from down there, and they came up while I was showing the older people the stuff that I make on a trailer.

And like, they, they really enjoyed watching the kids come over and climb up on the stuff and know what kind of dinosaur it was, and they probably talked about it for weeks afterwards.

So it was just bringing one little spark of life back to people that are sitting in a nursing home and can't do anything else because they bring them out with wheelchairs and stuff like that.

And, for them to see something like that one more time in their life is inspirational.

It's actually, when I get the time.

So it could be any time of day.

I might work two hours one day and I might work 12 hours another day.

But these rubber ones only take me about two weeks.

This one took over a month and it was my biggest one.

It's still my biggest one because, but it's 26ft long, 20ft wide, and 11ft tall.

But the dinosaur that you saw on my truck at Goodwill has surpassed this one, because he's 28ft long and fits in my eight foot bed.

I've got them all throughout the yard and then I take different ones, put them on the trailer, however many I can fit on the trailer and take them out to the schools and festivals and the kid's faces are amazing when they see dinosaurs that they can climb on.

Maybe after I'm passed away, we'll come out and then maybe it won't make a dinosaur, but maybe they'll make something else that would be just as gratifying.

And I never sell anything because I want to be the one guy that is out here not for greed, but for other people's pleasure.

And when people see my stuff just driving down the road, I don't know how many smiles I put on people's faces because I don't see them all.

Some are in a house, some are in a car, and they see what I'm doing and it brings them a little bit of joy.

- Thank you once again and thank you all for watching around Akron with Blue Green for ten years.

And this is the hundredth episode and hopefully we'll have many, many more.

Thank you and have an amazing day.

Yay a hundred episodes!

Wooo!

Thank you and I love you from the bottom of my heart.