[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...63857785970.txt

No Time To Retire

By Deborah Sederberg
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, August 16, 2010 5:10 PM CDT


MICHIGAN CITY — He tried to retire.

“But people still keep sending me work,” 91-year-old Tommie Young said. “I retired, but I never stopped working.”

Young has worked in Michigan City for more than 50 years as a concrete contractor, a trade he learned from a contractor in Arkansas. He came to Michigan City in 1953.

Wes Scully, president of the La Porte County Chapter of the NAACP and a friend since kindergarten of Tommie Young’s son, Larry Young, a Michigan City police officer, is not a bit surprised.

“That’s what happens when you’re good and your prices are reasonable,” Scully said.

Young, who is black, said he never felt any discrimination when he was actively looking for concrete jobs.

That also does not surprise Scully, who works at trying to get more blacks into the construction trades.

“Mr. Young was a contractor,” he noted. “He was not trying to get into the unions.”

After a while, Young said, he could barely handle the work that came his way. He has built basements, foundations, floors, sidewalks and other structures all over town.

He has worked as a sub-contractor for Tonn & Blank and on the foundations of the single-family houses on South Ohio Street and on the side streets going east from Ohio Street.

“For one man (a builder), I built 75 basements,” he said.

Brett Kelly, a founder of the United Front Coalition, a group of people who, like Scully, is working with Mayor Chuck Oberlie and the City Council to get more minorities into the building trades, has enormous respect for Young.

But he believes young black people trying to get into the trade unions and their apprenticeship programs still experience discrimination.

Kelly said he still sees too much nepotism.

“It’s still a good old boy network out there,” he added, “and (hiring according to) who you know is not equality.”

The mission of the coalition, he said, is to “raise the social consciousness of the socially unconscious.”

About Young, Kelly said, he admires him.

“I know Mr. Young through gospel singing,” Kelly said, “and I would never criticize him.”

Ron Burgess has no criticism of Young or his work.

“He started to work for my father, Joe, and as we expanded, we always called Tommie.”

Chuckling, car sales lot owner Burgess said, “Plus, I think we’ve sold him about 15 cars over the years.”

More seriously, he said he hires Young because “he knows what he’s doing.”

What is it that Young knows? What is the secret to producing strong and good-looking concrete surfaces?

“You just get to know the concrete,” he said.

Young’s four sons, Larry, Terry, Ricky and Tommy Jr., all have worked in the business at one time or another. And yes, he said, Tommy Jr. has chosen to spell his name with a “y” instead of an “ie” as his dad does.

Not only did Young’s son, Larry Young, become an officer, but Larry’s son, Larry, Tommie’s grandson, is a police officer as well.

Speaking of that grandson, Tommie Young said, “He’s a good man, a good man.”

He is proud to hear so many members of the community know his son and grandson as police officers.

“Me?,” he said. “Everybody knows me as the concrete man.”

[taxthedeer]

My barber is 93, Charlie Mazac is his name, born when Warren G. Harding was the president. He runs his shop out of the storage building frontage on Arthur St. behind Al's Supermarket. Been a barbar pratically his whole life. He'll tell you some great stories about growing up in Chicago's west loop and barbering in his early years downtown on State St. and all his years in Michigan City. Only charges $5.00 for the best haircut you'll ever have in your life and refuses to take a gratuity. No matter what time of day you go into his shop you'll open the door, a cowbell will ring and Charlie says, "Good Morning!!!".

What I really like most is when Charlie's done cutting my hair, he'll shave the back of my neck, he applys the hot lather then goes into his drawer and pulls out a straight edge razor, sharpens the the blade on the strap hooked to the chair and goes to work. The first time I went to him it was like Oh My Goodness this old man is going to slit my throat. But that is now what I look forward to the most whenever I go see Charlie.

We have some really amazing senior citizens in Michigan City.

[Ang]

My barber is 93, Charlie Mazac is his name, born when Warren G. Harding was the president. He runs his shop out of the storage building frontage on Arthur St. behind Al's Supermarket. Been a barbar pratically his whole life. He'll tell you some great stories about growing up in Chicago's west loop and barbering in his early years downtown on State St. and all his years in Michigan City. Only charges $5.00 for the best haircut you'll ever have in your life and refuses to take a gratuity. No matter what time of day you go into his shop you'll open the door, a cowbell will ring and Charlie says, "Good Morning!!!".

What I really like most is when Charlie's done cutting my hair, he'll shave the back of my neck, he applys the hot lather then goes into his drawer and pulls out a straight edge razor, sharpens the the blade on the strap hooked to the chair and goes to work. The first time I went to him it was like Oh My Goodness this old man is going to slit my throat. But that is now what I look forward to the most whenever I go see Charlie.

We have some really amazing senior citizens in Michigan City.

I'm pretty sure that's who my grandfather goes to. The name sounds familiar and I remember Grandpa (who is 90) telling me that his barber is the only one in town who still uses a straight razor.

[TSNSPYDER]

A couple relies:

You mean people in the Union only hire who they want to in disregard to qulaifications, tell me it ain't so. I'm teasing. I lived in MC when they had the really bad economy in the early 80s. My Dad was the best at his profession in NW IN, but the business manager for the union would only hire his buddies.

Where I live they only hire friends and relatives for companies too, both for union and non-union jobs.

I used to go to Mid-Town Barbers. I remember they used to use a straight razor for sideburns, and give you a massage at the end with an electric massager.