Elaine! Dustin Hoffman calling for his money. J

Former BJ arts and culture critic Elaine Guregian, Development Officer for Corporate and Foundation Relations with the Summa Foundation, handed out $1,000 in cash prizes to the winners of the Fresh Art Show at Summit Artspace in Akron.

The show had 50 works from the 250 submitted for consideration, from photography and paintings to sculpture and digital art.

Jennifer Omaitz of Kent won the top prize of $500. Kathryn Shinko of Akron got second place and $200. Rachel Goldman of Medina was third with $150. Jennifer Jones of Akron, Diane Taninecz of Peninsula and John Carlson of Lakewood earned honorable mentions.

Elaine!

The Fresh Air award of $150 for an innovative artwork went to Craig, Heather, Leila and Dylan Wargowsky of Akron for an animated video about their family.

The prizes were sponsored by the Summa Foundation, which supports patient care, medical education and research through philanthropy.

The winners’ artwork and pieces from 45 other local artists will remain at the Summit Artspace Gallery until June 27. The Gallery is in the Summit Artspace building at 140 E. Market Street in downtown Akron. The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

Elaine was classical music and dance critic at Ol’ Blue Walls for 16 years before expanding into arts and culture to add theater to her coverage. Her late mother, Carol Guregian, was a teacher in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Elaine left the BJ in the 2008 exodus, when 18 walked out with 273 years of service. In 2006 there were 24 departures with 335 years of service, including the best food writer in BJ history, Jane Snow. 2001 was the most massive migration from Ol’ Blue Walls: five CENTURIES of service walked out the door, including Tom Melody, Art Krummel, Mickey Porter, Joan Rice and Steve Love, all likely candidates if they ever have a BJ Hall of Fame.

That’s a THOUSAND years of service, and more than that in lifetime career experience, that left the BJ in three momentous days! Ol’ Blue Walls never recovered.

And all this came AFTER my 1996 retirement which freed me to travel to 52 countries, 43 states and take 11 cruises with my late wife Monnie and my current love of 11 years, Paula Stone Tucker, a 1970s State Desk reporter who wised up and became a psychologist. I’m her prime subject.

Managing Editor Doug Oplinger, John Deere’s No. 1 groupie, still hasn’t found a replacement for me.

For those who didn’t get the headline, “Elaine!” is the famous Dustin Hoffman scream in the 1967 movie “The Graduate” as he sees his sweetheart Elaine marry Carl.

 

Benjamin (Dustin) uses a giant cross to swat at pursuers and then to lock the door as Benjamin and Elaine flee and board a passing bus to live happily ever after. That’s what they do in most movies.

Simon and Garfield made a bundle with a song, written by Paul Simon with a reference to the Yankee Clipper that infuriated Joe DiMaggio, they wrote for the movie: “Mrs. Robinson,” Grammy Record of the Year.

 

Later, in a face-to-face meeting when Simon explained to Joe that it was a tribute to his quality personna in a world gone mad, the Clipper calmed down.

Simon performed "Mrs. Robinson" at Yankee Stadium in DiMaggio's honor the month after his death.

I’ve often been told that I tend to shoot off on tangents in mid-conversation. You think?

 

From Elaine Guregian to “Elaine!” in “The Graduate.”

 

A natural progression, in my mind.

Well, I did learn from the best, Patrick T. Englehart.

 

Pat, his DeNobil cigar crammed in his mouth, would run a thought through his brain, then speak the followup thought aloud to you, expecting you to connect the dots by having enough extrasensory perception to read his mind. If you didn’t, Pat looked at you like a man who had a paper asshole.

God, I miss Pat, Harry and Fran.