David E. Dix: Marken's Venice photo inspires local travelers

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 12:01 AM

David E. Dix

Barb Marken, the wife of Joe Marken of Don Joseph Toyota, last week retired from her career as a dental hygienist having spent 31 years with Dr. E.A. Mastroianni.

Between Barb and Sherry Joy, who has been retired from dental hygiene, I do not think I have had any other dental hygienists on a regular basis for such a long time. Both are masters of their profession.

Barb always had her office decorated with pictures and posters of interesting places, many of which she and Joe have visited. Viewing the pictures takes the dental work off one’s mind and provides topics of conversation.

Prominent among the pictures was a poster Barb purchased at McKay Bricker in February of 2000 showing a building along the canals of Venice with the address: Rio de S. Pantalone clearly marked on the side of the building.

A month after she purchased the poster, Barb, Joe, and their two children, Whitney and Philip, were touring in Italy. Barb, like a detective, looked in the street directory of every city the family visited hoping to find one that matched the address in the poster.

Venice, near the end of the tour, rewarded her efforts. Its street directory indicated the existence of the address, appropriately located on one of the city’s canals.

Standing in front of the building to prove their discovery, the family had a picture taken and the photo was placed in Barb’s office next to the poster.

That was 18 years ago and about 30 of the patients she has taken care of since then, having seen the poster, have stopped in front of the building to have their picture taken to show Barb.

Among those patients having their photo taken in front of the Venetian building were the family of Kurt and Mary Ruehr of Aurora. They were traveling with Mary Ruehr’s mother, the late Bonnie Zurbuch, retired from her career of teaching Latin in Cuyahoga Falls. They were Barb’s final patients, so a week ago last Thursday I visited Dr. Mastroianni’s office to snap a photo of some of the Ruehr family with Barb and the photo of the home in Venice.

Two other patients, Heather and Barry Nelson, also visited Venice this year. They deposited a letter at the home from Barb explaining her interest and the fact that approximately 30 of her patients had stopped to have their picture taken in front of it.

Understanding that her interest in the home might not be sympathetically understood, Barb realizes nothing may come of her friendly get-acquainted efforts. Her next step, she said, is to correspond with the Venice Chamber of Commerce. Since her interest has resulted in 30 of her patients visiting Venice as tourists, the Venice Chamber, might want to bestow some recognition on Barb for promoting tourism.

Adventurous Life

Ravenna’s Tom Riddle, who thrives on pursuing one of the most adventurous lives of anyone I know, maintains an interesting Facebook chronicle and his recent summary of 2017 describes his adventures.

In the early 1990s, Tom published a book telling of his year and a half in Cambodia following its horrible civil war preceded by the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge. The book, called, "Cambodia and the Year of UNTAC (the United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia) recounts his work in helping implement an election by the Cambodian people to set up a government. The book is being re-issued. A photo link shows Tom in nearby Laos, which he said, was heavily bombed by the U.S. during our war in Vietnam.

Tom spent the first part of 2017 working in Anandwan, a special village in central India founded by a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. It cares for those with disabilities, most notably leprosy. Tom is an excellent photographer and his Facebook message links the reader to a series of photos representative of his experiences. This is not the first time Tom has donated his services to help those in Anandwan. He is returning to Anandwan this year once more as a volunteer.

After Anandwan, he traveled to Jharkhand State to help a group of Catholic Sisters create a movie in Hindi to raise money for a new hospital. Mineral-rich Jharkhand has one of the worst state governments in India. Sadly, law and order are lacking, Tom writes.

Tom’s chronicle includes a photo of himself with his attractive wife, Sun Noparat Khunsun, an accountant from Thailand, whom he married last fall at Delciello’s in Ravenna in a beautiful Buddhist ceremony.

Shortly after that, Tom traveled to Spain to walk the "Camino de Santiago," a 500-mile trail across northern Spain that ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain where the remains of Saint James are said to be buried.

The rugged walk in medieval times was a religious pilgrimage. Modern-day hikers undertake it as a challenge. Tom documented his 32-day foot journey across picturesque Spain with more than 300 beautiful photographs, unfortunately, none of which I succeeded in downloading for this column.

A poet and philosopher, Tom asked where time goes. His answer? It goes away and leaves us with memories. "As humans," he concludes, "our great solace is wishing each other well."

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 12:01 AM

David E. Dix

Barb Marken, the wife of Joe Marken of Don Joseph Toyota, last week retired from her career as a dental hygienist having spent 31 years with Dr. E.A. Mastroianni.

Between Barb and Sherry Joy, who has been retired from dental hygiene, I do not think I have had any other dental hygienists on a regular basis for such a long time. Both are masters of their profession.

Barb always had her office decorated with pictures and posters of interesting places, many of which she and Joe have visited. Viewing the pictures takes the dental work off one’s mind and provides topics of conversation.

Prominent among the pictures was a poster Barb purchased at McKay Bricker in February of 2000 showing a building along the canals of Venice with the address: Rio de S. Pantalone clearly marked on the side of the building.

A month after she purchased the poster, Barb, Joe, and their two children, Whitney and Philip, were touring in Italy. Barb, like a detective, looked in the street directory of every city the family visited hoping to find one that matched the address in the poster.

Venice, near the end of the tour, rewarded her efforts. Its street directory indicated the existence of the address, appropriately located on one of the city’s canals.

Standing in front of the building to prove their discovery, the family had a picture taken and the photo was placed in Barb’s office next to the poster.

That was 18 years ago and about 30 of the patients she has taken care of since then, having seen the poster, have stopped in front of the building to have their picture taken to show Barb.

Among those patients having their photo taken in front of the Venetian building were the family of Kurt and Mary Ruehr of Aurora. They were traveling with Mary Ruehr’s mother, the late Bonnie Zurbuch, retired from her career of teaching Latin in Cuyahoga Falls. They were Barb’s final patients, so a week ago last Thursday I visited Dr. Mastroianni’s office to snap a photo of some of the Ruehr family with Barb and the photo of the home in Venice.

Two other patients, Heather and Barry Nelson, also visited Venice this year. They deposited a letter at the home from Barb explaining her interest and the fact that approximately 30 of her patients had stopped to have their picture taken in front of it.

Understanding that her interest in the home might not be sympathetically understood, Barb realizes nothing may come of her friendly get-acquainted efforts. Her next step, she said, is to correspond with the Venice Chamber of Commerce. Since her interest has resulted in 30 of her patients visiting Venice as tourists, the Venice Chamber, might want to bestow some recognition on Barb for promoting tourism.

Adventurous Life

Ravenna’s Tom Riddle, who thrives on pursuing one of the most adventurous lives of anyone I know, maintains an interesting Facebook chronicle and his recent summary of 2017 describes his adventures.

In the early 1990s, Tom published a book telling of his year and a half in Cambodia following its horrible civil war preceded by the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge. The book, called, "Cambodia and the Year of UNTAC (the United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia) recounts his work in helping implement an election by the Cambodian people to set up a government. The book is being re-issued. A photo link shows Tom in nearby Laos, which he said, was heavily bombed by the U.S. during our war in Vietnam.

Tom spent the first part of 2017 working in Anandwan, a special village in central India founded by a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. It cares for those with disabilities, most notably leprosy. Tom is an excellent photographer and his Facebook message links the reader to a series of photos representative of his experiences. This is not the first time Tom has donated his services to help those in Anandwan. He is returning to Anandwan this year once more as a volunteer.

After Anandwan, he traveled to Jharkhand State to help a group of Catholic Sisters create a movie in Hindi to raise money for a new hospital. Mineral-rich Jharkhand has one of the worst state governments in India. Sadly, law and order are lacking, Tom writes.

Tom’s chronicle includes a photo of himself with his attractive wife, Sun Noparat Khunsun, an accountant from Thailand, whom he married last fall at Delciello’s in Ravenna in a beautiful Buddhist ceremony.

Shortly after that, Tom traveled to Spain to walk the "Camino de Santiago," a 500-mile trail across northern Spain that ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain where the remains of Saint James are said to be buried.

The rugged walk in medieval times was a religious pilgrimage. Modern-day hikers undertake it as a challenge. Tom documented his 32-day foot journey across picturesque Spain with more than 300 beautiful photographs, unfortunately, none of which I succeeded in downloading for this column.

A poet and philosopher, Tom asked where time goes. His answer? It goes away and leaves us with memories. "As humans," he concludes, "our great solace is wishing each other well."