Local News

Dean Martin museum, parade expected to dazzle

STEUBENVILLE -- The anticipation of volunteers was tangible on Thursday as the 2023 Dean Martin Festival was set to begin, aided by generous contributions from Steubenville and beyond.

"To say that I'm the organizer is really not fair. ... Everybody in town has worked so hard to really make this a great event," said Francesca Carinci, the festival's organizer.

The festivities officially kicked off Thursday evening with karaoke at Spot Bar at 217 S. Fourth St. The karaoke contest offered a prize of $100 -- and the chance to sing at the bar on Saturday -- to the individual who performed the best rendition of one of Martin's classic hits.

"(Karaoke at the Spot Bar) is a tradition that so many people have attended over the years," Carinci said. "If nothing else happened, then the karaoke at the Spot Bar would."

Carinci said the karaoke contest typically occurs on Friday, but with so many events during the weekend, it had to be shifted to earlier.

The weekend certainly is filled to the brim with activities, with events like the sold-out Rat Pack Dinner Show on Saturday at Froehlich's Classic Corner, a display from the Steubenville Art Association, trolley rides and much more. The weekend's full schedule can be found online at visitsteubenville.com.

One attraction that is known to draw a large crowd is the Dean Martin Traveling Museum, which will be displayed at the former PNC Bank building at 124 N. Fourth Street on Friday and Saturday from approximately 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jim Monaco, the museum's curator, and his wife, Debbie, traveled from Cliffwood, N.J., to share the collection with Steubenville for the third time. The Monacos have been displaying the museum for 10 years.

Jim Monaco said he has never tried to count how many unique pieces there are in the museum -- which takes 11 hours to set up and four people to unload -- but some are worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

"This will all be Dean, every bit of space," said Jim Monaco, referencing the PNC building's walls, soon to be covered in Dean Martin memorabilia. Pieces include posters and pictures "from all over the world," as well as clothing articles, statues and music -- all originals.

One of Jim Monaco's most prized items is a golden record issued to Martin for selling more than 1 million records. The record was a gift to Jim Monaco from the late Jeanne Martin, former wife of Dean Martin, after she asked Jim Monaco to scour his collection and give her copies of pictures that included her children.

The first time the Monacos came to the festival, it was as spectators after hearing about it from fellow Dean Martin fans. After that, Jim Monaco said, they got connected and offered to bring the collection for display, refusing reimbursement and insisting to be there "all for the love of Dean."

"When I was a kid, I was the only one in school who glorified Dean Martin," said Jim Monaco, who began collecting memorabilia of Martin, his self-professed "cocaine," when he was 13 years old. "(Martin) ended up knocking the Beatles out of their No. 1 spot with "Everybody Loves Somebody." And I walked into school that day after he hit that No. 1 spot, like, 'See?'"

Two classic events that are making a return after a multi-year hiatus are the Dino Dash and Dean Martin and the Rat Pack Parade.

Carinci said the parade will feature local businesses, a dance group and actor Lou Martini Jr. of "Law & Order" and "The Godfather" as grand marshal. What's more, there will be a special appearance from Joe Scalissi, a Dean Martin performer, and the Rat Pack themselves riding atop the Grand Theater's float, which Carinci called "the focal point of the parade."

The theater's float, Carinci said, was a family effort, being hand-built out of wood by Carinci's brother-in-law, John Cooper, and decorated by Carinci and her sister.

Golden streamers trim the float's edges. Italian flags, honoring Martin's Italian heritage, stretch across the float. Original, 1920s-era chairs from the theater's balcony seating are placed near the float's nose. Images of Martin himself decorate the float, with two flags bearing his face and a cardboard cutout standing center-stage.

"That's who it's all about," said Carinci, pointing at one of the Dean Martin flags.

"Can you imagine? A guy from Sixth Street," Carinci said. "He came from humble beginnings and became one of the most famous singers, comedians, actors ... in the whole world. He would socialize with the president of the United States. That's how enigmatic this guy was."

Carinci herself took the reigns as the festival's organizer for the first time this year. However, she has a seemingly endless list of individuals she wanted to thank for making the festival possible.

Among the list were Jerry Barilla, mayor of Steubenville; Jojo DiAlbert, owner of the Spot Bar; Jim Mavromatis, city manager; Gary Hallock, who helped organize Saturday's car cruise-in; and Mark and Gretchen Nelson of Nelson Fine Art and Gifts, to name only a few.

"Everybody has kind of turned themselves inside out to make this happen,"

Carinci said. She added that she is most excited about the teamwork that has characterized the festival, which has been in planning for about a year.

"This is our hometown celebration," Carinci said, "(and) an opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate (Steubenville's) most famous son."