ART MECOMONACO: A small man with big visions

Any time I read the paper and find that my name is not in the obituaries I feel good the rest of the day.

Art Mecomonaco, in an April 3, 2003 letter to the Watertown Daily Times.

JAN. 12, 2010: Art Mecomonaco was a “short person.” How do I know? Well, because I knew Art and he was definitely short. But that's also the exact term he used to described himself in one of the dozens of letters to the editor our newspaper published over the years.

With little fanfare, Art, who was 83, passed away this weekend. A funeral mass will be held Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Church.

I don't know what all will be said about him. I am sure much will be made about the Bronze Star medal he received for heroism in World War II and his relentless efforts to document the courage and valor of all of our service members.

But I do hope somebody will note that we have lost a voice for a better Watertown.

Art's concerns were broad. He would attend a sporting event or musical, but come away with buckets of praise that he had to share with others.

DELIGHTFUL PROGRAM

Sunday, March 21, 1999

Once more Watertown was treated to an excellent and refreshing program on Tuesday, March 16. The combined choirs of the schools which included fifth-graders from elementary schools, students from Case Junior and the high school, in a variety of different choral groups, presented a very diversified program... I would be remiss if I did not praise those wonderful music teachers and piano players who accompanied the singers. They never fail to do their utmost to get the most and best out of our kids. Tell them when you see them that they are setting your children on the right paths to a good life.

WOMEN CONTRIBUTING TO SPORTS

Feb. 17, 2009

Many of our female players from some of our north country teams have placed their schools in high levels of competition, and so have our boys, and gone on to colleges and some even to professional levels. Immaculate Heart Central and Watertown schools have risen to some of the highest competitions in the state and made others know who and where we are.

Art Mecomonaco was also ready to challenge other writers. As always, he wrote with the voice of experience:

REAL ITALIAN TAKES ISSUE WITH PASTA RECIPE

Saturday, April 4, 1998

Regarding his article on Pasta Fagioli presented on March 3, first of all Pasta Fagioli is exactly what the name means, pasta (macaroni), fagioli (beans) or true translation - macaroni with beans, period. His recipe has meat, vegetables, cheese and other ingredients purporting it to be a chef's creation of a gourmet Italian dish. Nothing is farther from the truth. I have eaten this simple but delicious dish all my life.

JAPAN'S WARRIORS PROVED TOUGH TO DEFEAT

Friday, March 3, 1995

After reading the letter in the Feb. 10 issue, entitled "War Casualty Myth," I must respond to the myths within the myth.

He says the Japanese had no ships, planes, ammunition, guns or fortifications along their coasts to return troops to their homeland and to defend against any invasion. Not true. They were quite ingenious, clever and inventive and would have somehow gotten enough ships from their conquests on the Asiatic mainland to accomplish the evacuation back to Japan.

They were also very tenacious fighters, and when they ran out of supplies and ammunition they attacked with what they had in suicidal "banzai" actions... Accompanied by the weirdest yelling and howling, blowing bugles and making noise with whatever they could to scare the devil out of those they were attacking. I experienced some of these attacks, and it is indescribably fearsome.

Art Mecomonaco believed our schools should return Latin to the curriculum. He thought Catholic priests should be allowed to marry. He wanted to see the reestablishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. And 10 years before construction started, he proposed building a parking garage at Samaritan Medical Center.

HERE'S A SUGGESTION FOR SAMARITAN PARKING

Saturday, July 25, 1998

For many years we have heard and read about the problems with parking at the Samaritan Medical Center... There are those who would consider (a parking garage) a foolish idea because I have suggested it. But, someday someone better educated and more affluent than I, will convince the powers that be to go ahead with the project, and it will get done. But what does it matter as long as it comes to pass. They will ask, "Should we do it?" and when it gets done, will then say, "Why didn't we do it sooner?"

Art Mecomonaco lamented that people threw away items that could be recycled (May 2001). He believed New Orleans would be rebuilt into a city that would surpass what it was before Hurricane Katrina (September 2005). He wrote that California's energy problems were the result of bad choices made by people who are too self-absorbed to make sacrifices for a better future (June 2001).

But the overriding theme of much of what he wrote is that we are all fortunate to live in the north country.

NORTH COUNTRY BLESSED

Thursday, June 19, 2008

We of this great and beautiful north country have to be more than thankful for where we live. Yes, we have our problems — heavy snows and cold winters; some flooding in low-lying areas, but not of catastrophic dimensions; the seldom but serious ice storms that we have experienced, but no big earthquakes, landslides, extensive air pollution and extensive forest fires. We are blessed to be living in a place of beauty surrounded by the Great Lakes, the towering Adirondacks, and the striking beauty of the magnificent St. Lawrence River with its Thousand Islands and beauty of all our wide open countryside.

But, most of all the closeness of those around us whom we call our neighbors. We are blessed in a "Garden of Eden."

Arthur C. Mecomonaco half-jokingly saw himself as “the little guy,” a person whose concerns were often literally and figuratively overlooked by the elite and powerful. But in reality he was simply a man of good cheer and a ready smile, a man who celebrated the accomplishments of others and wished only the best for his community.

Art Mecomonaco is a little guy no more. Today he sleeps with kings and counselors, and rightly so.