Footprints: preserving our legacies
No, this is not a story about cats, in spite of the photo here. But my cat launched the following reflections on this New Years Day 2009. I watched her march through new fallen snow in the bright, but rare Pittsburgh sunlight, leaving tiny footprints in her path— a record of her travels while doing her “cat work.” The footprints show me what she’s been up to, where she’s been. Unfortunately it doesn’t tell me what she’s up to next. 
Just before Christmas, a cousin in Ohio sent me a 1945 photo of my parents that they discovered in an old dusty album. I was charmed by it and turned it into a framed Christmas present for my family. This too is about footprints: my parents’ youth, a bygone era, and the memory that my grandmother had 5 sons serving in World War II at one time. This image portrays a big footprint, a legacy that would shape my world for decades into the future.
On New Years Day we often reflect on the past, even if we’re making resolutions about the future. Many of those resolutions are things we’d like to change, eliminate or improve going forward. Some should also be about what we’d like to preserve—nurturing vital legacies or meaningful relationships. Life is not just about bigger, better, faster.
In my Pittsburgh neighborhood of Deutschtown, preserving our footprints of history is vital to who and what we are—a national historic district. This reflects not only our respect for the past and its sturdy, well crafted artifacts, but also reflects part of our Brand. Like other rebounding neighborhoods, it’s part of our development and marketing strategy.
A favorite example is the restoration of a late 1800s blacksmith shop, then owned by “John Schmittdiel horseshoer,” down the street from my house. The photo shows the shop in its heyday, with neighbors gathered for this snaphot of history. In 2003, Bob Baunbach and Jen Saffron, a young couple with a dream in the neighborhood, bought the shop and began restoration with careful attention to detail.
Time had taken its toll on the building, requiring replacement of all windows and doors and the rebuilding of two leaning brick walls. By 2006, the work was done. For the ribbon cutting I suggested recreating the scene of the old photo, as a tribute to those who were here more than a century before us. We did this with great fun and fanfare, including press coverage by reporter and neighbor Diana Nelson Jones.
Today, in the footprint of the old blacksmith shop, is a modern studio and office for Bob’s architectural business and for a design firm. The legacy of craftsmanship is preserved, the memory of the blacksmith lives on. And the carbon footprint left by the new office and studio is smaller than if the building had been replaced with a new one. Preservation = Green.
Thanks, Bob and Jen, for saving this footprint of our ancestors for future generations, including for your two sons. It reminds us of where we’ve been… and where we’re going.
Now THIS is a BLOG! I’m usually not a blog reader. SImply put, they’re kind of boring. They tell me nothing that I want to or need to know.
You turned it around for me, Randy. THis was worth anyone’s time. Of course, the cat is what snagged me…
Congratulations on a great job, and have a Happy New Year too!
Donna Tabor
Granada, Nicaragua
Wow. Coming from you, premier writer and producer, that’s quite a compliment. Thanks.
Now that you’re encouraged about the possibilities, go for it girl. You’d be great at blogging. You were doing it during Hurricane Mitch and had everyone on the edge of their seats and sending in $ for the cause. Plus, it could start some momentum on your book that we’re all waiting to read.
hey randy, all good stuff. but don’t you know that you have to rant if you have a blog?;)… happy new year. diana
Diana, thanks for reminding me about ranting. I’ll get right on it with the next blog. Happy New Year to you too… xoxo Randy
Randy, that was a pleasure to read – nice flow in those paragraphs . . .
Thanks. BTW, Diana was just kidding about the ranting. She went offline to say that.
Randy, it’s so great to see part of my family’s history preserved like this! As a child I heard so many stories from my grandmother about my great-grandfather’s blacksmith shop. What a thrill it was to find out it still existed and was being restored! It was a moving experience to visit it and be part of the recreation of the photo that has been in our family for years. We are so proud that the shop is included in the history of “Old Allegheny”.
We’re trying to revive some of the spirit of bustling Old Allegheny here–hundreds of us. In other neighborhoods too, like Allegheny West, Manchester, Mexican War Streets. Don’t even ask people over here what they think about tearing down most of Allegheny City to build Allegheny Center!
I look forward to getting a good copy of the historic photo from your family. We’ll use it on our new website and I’m sure Bob Baumbach will want to frame it or us it in his signage.
Thanks again Sally.
Nice Blog, Randy. Of course everything you do is first class.
Helene
Thanks, Helene. Coming from you it’s especially meaningful.
Hi Randy, it was good seeing you today.
Great blog, I learned a lot about Deutschtown that I was not familiar with.
Bis Bald!
Sylvia