Interesting People in Cleveland
Cleveland Seniors - People Page

Columnists

Alex Machaskee - Interview

In this interview Alex talks about his family, his early years and beyond. From growing up in Warren Ohio, traveling every Sunday to Serbian school in Youngstown, working jobs at a young age and more.

He talks about his introduction to journalism and the newspaper business and his 40 years as a member of a 4-piece Tamburitza acoustic band that played all over including opening for Bob Hope at the Ohio State Fair. He tells about his world travels with the Cleveland Orchestra and others through Asia, Europe and South America (Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing, Vienna, Rome, Paris, London, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Buenos Aires, St. Petersburg, Moscow and more.

He talks about his Mosaic section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he created to showcase the ethnic heritages of the community. He established the Serbian Cultural Garden and now has 12 busts there including Tesla and Novak Djokovic and Albert Einstein's wife.

He talks about some of the important people in his life such as Sam Miller and Senator George Voinovich.

His story continues as he tells about his latest project, an International Heritage Gallery at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland. Watch.

Andy Fedynsky - ClevelandSenior Interview

Andy said that in 1918 the building was used as an oprhanage for Ukrainian kids and then for nuns, then scouting and then as the Museum and Archives for the last 50 years or so. They have collections of documents and artifacts including 40,000 books, embroidery, pysanky, literature, musical instruments (banduras) and even postage stamps. The mission statement includes not just the Ukrainian story but the broader immigrant experience. Andy says it is an American museum.

The Cleveland Ukrainian community goes back to the 19th century when immigrants came to the industrial valley at Tremont for jobs. The Tremont neighborhood became a dangerous place in the 1980's and Andy says the UMA helped in the comeback of the historic neighborhood which includes numerous ethnic churches. Andy credits his experience on Capitol Hill working for Senator Bob Dole and then as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar for helping him learn about the system to aid with the development of the Museum and neighborhood. Of course the UMA includes history and current information on Ukraine's struggles for independence and liberty.

Andy's parents were political refugees after WWII and were placed in a Displaced Person camp in Innsbruck Austria where Andy was born in 1947. He tells a great story of how this Ukrainian kid ended us as a Fighting Irishman at Notre Dame - because of his birth in Innsbruck. Watch the video.