No Place Like It in the World
The building used to be an old furniture showroom with large picture windows facing the street. It was situated on Market Street in Boardman a few blocks from where the city of Youngstown began. “R’s” Pharmancy was just down the street on the opposite side. The pharmacy was in a white stucco and timber building that you would find in Europe. Today I think that building is some kind of store that sells vacuum cleaners. Passers-by would sometimes stop and gaze inside the large gym windows to catch a momentary glimpse of the curious characters working out. That was back in the days when people still walked up and down the street to conduct their daily business, when there was daily business to conduct. You would enter the gym from a side door, glance briefly at the warped poster stapled to the door advertising an old boxing match that had taken place years ago, then enter. I ventured into the place for the first time in the Spring of 1980 as a sophomor...