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TONY'S MOVES WEST
On the eve of the much-awaited Reds-versus-Cards' first game, James Bommarito, son of Tony's boniface Vince Bommarito, told the columnist that the restaurant will move by next spring or no later than June 2012 to the born-again Cheshire Inn on Clayton Road. "Just a few small details remain," he said. "Anyone opening a downtown restaurant these days is crazy." James diligently worked the room, while his brother Vince Bommarito, Jr., paid homage to a trio of former Cardinals royalty, including Fox Sports broadcaster Tim McCarver, former Cards GM Dal Maxvill, and the team's longtime athletic trainer Gene Gieselman (pictured at right).
HEADLINERS
Football running back and hometowner Laurence Maroney is telling pals that he is being wooed by several teams. Recently released by the Denver Broncos, Maroney is back in our environs... Look for longtime football coach Jim Hanifan to assemble some past gridder greats to his All-Pro Football Camp, June 4-5 at Lindenwood University. You can bet Jim Hart, Dan Dierdorf, Roger Wehrli, and Aeneas Williams will be on hand... Nelly is back in town after his huge success on his concert tour in Australia... Des Peres' loverly Becky Kelley has been encouraged by producers for Garth Brooks and Faith Hill to put together a country music album in Nashville. Kelley is still basking in the almost 4 million hits she's received on YouTube with her popular "Where is the Line to Jesus?"... Another hit, albeit at Saint Louis University is assistant prof Anastasio Kaburakis, who presides over management and sports business. Students from other institutions are clamoring to register.
WITH THE DOCS
Lee Fetter, president of St. Louis Children's Hospital, said later this year he will announce the construction of a new building to house more beds. Then he turned to the influx of patients with cerebral palsy coming to the hospital for neurological procedures under the eyes of Dr. T.S. Park. The procedure is called selective dorsal rhizotomy. "We had 16 patients last year from overseas, including 16 from England," he said. "We've also begun diagnosing fetuses focusing on congenital defects in our new fetal care center."
A few hundred members of the Friends of St. Louis Children's Hospital gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Thursday, and their contributions brought the total earmarked for the hospital and its Camp Rhythm to $740,000. The crowd became teary-eyed listening to comments by Chandra Tracy about Bryn, her 6 year-old daughter who successfully underwent a heart transplant. Another daughter, Amy, also had Bryn's condition—dilated cardiomyopathy—and, following several strokes, she did not survive. Tracy said, "It is very hard to describe for someone what it's like to wait for a heart, for a gift so valuable and precious. The days seem so long and the nights seem so scary. In fact, I still sleep in bed with Bryn, not because she's afraid, but because I am." When Bryn recovered from surgery, Chandra and her husband, Chris (pictured at left), contemplated what their daughter's first words might be. "I love you Daddy?" "I love you Mommy?" "I want cheese fries," she insisted.
FROM THE INQUISITION TO THE FINAL SOLUTION
Bianca Mannarelli (pictured at right) fizzles with excitement when she speaks of her heritage and earns her a passionate listener. The glammed-up 71-year-old Sephardic Jew was a tot when, along with her parents and siblings, she escaped the Final Solution by fleeing their native Italy for safety in the Jewish ghetto of Rhodes.
"My father was Catholic and he would have been executed by the S.S. for having crossed the 'racial lines,"' she said, with traces of sadness in her voice. Having completed her morning regimen of swimming, the west St. Louis County resident continued, "Despite Italy's occupation by the Germans, [Benito] Mussolini was very compassionate with the Jews."
Family ties: "My mother was born in Spain and could speak the ancient Spanish language of Ladino. Her ancestors survived the Inquisition, while they refused to convert from Judaism. I have been divorced for 28 years and have two children of whom I'm proud. My daughter, Amy, lives in Washington, D.C., and my son, Thomas, lives in Singapore. He attended Pattonville High and earned his Ph.D from the University of Indiana and now teaches organizational behavior. He is gay and has been partnered for about six years. His father turned him against me and drummed into his head that if I found out, I'd be furious. I asked him why he didn't tell me before. All those years were lost until he came out to me at the age of 25."
Politics: "It's a paradox that I'm very liberal, but politically I have conservative ideas. I think President Obama is arrogant and not very intelligent. I also believe most of the money he's gotten for his campaign came from Arabs. I do like Sarah Palin and [Congresswoman] Michele Bachmann."
On Israel and Palestine: "I am amazed that at some universities there are lecturers who cry out to 'free Palestine, free Gaza.' Apparently, they don't check the historic facts. All they seem to know is that Israel stole land from the Palestinians. It's the other way around. The Palestinians have a home. It's called Jordan."
CIRCLE THE DATE
The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), founded as the National Conference for Christians and Jews, will honor committed folks actively addressing equity in various sectors of our town and to improve the quality of life for everyone at its dinner at 6 p.m., June 20 at the Missouri History Museum. Honorees include Valerie Bell, Kelvin Westbrook, Lewis Chartock, Ronald Jackson, Danny Ludemann, and Steven Mizeli. Said NCCJSTL executive director Denise DeCou, "The dinner is a source for substantial funding for the work of the NCCJ, including the 20th anniversary of our Anytown Youth Leadership Institute and our newest program, The Inclusion Institute for Health Care."
