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Our words have gone to Washington

February 27, 2007


Our words have gone to Washington

I needed to know when the Square celebrated its 75th anniversary. For an answer I used today's most popular research tool — Google. After typing Shaker Square 75th anniversary in Google, here's what I saw.


Rep S T Jones 
(from her website)


The first result was our own History page. Below it was an entry in THOMAS, the online database of congressional legislative information maintained by the Library of Congress. (It is named for Thomas Jefferson whose library helped start the Library of Congress.)

It was an extension of remarks — words in the record that were never spoken in Congress — submitted on November 18, 2004 by our Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones. (That's why her photo is shown above.) To read it on the THOMAS website, click here.

Her remarks were titled COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKER SQUARE I liked much of the writing, but the words seemed familiar. Then I looked at my own words in our About The Square page.

The remarks in THOMAS Our "About The Square" page
...
The Square was built in 1927-29 by Otis and Mantis Van Sweringen, the brothers who developed Shaker Heights, Ohio.

The oldest shopping district in Ohio and the second oldest in the Nation, Shaker Square was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

What you see at Shaker Square today is a happy combination of nearly 75 years of preservation, enhanced by a multi-million dollar renovation in 2000-2001....

But Shaker Square is more than a shopping area. It is the heart of a lively, diverse neighborhood. There are more than 4,000 units of high-quality rental and condominium apartments near the square--the largest concentration of multi family housing in Cleveland--plus townhouses and many private homes.

...
The Square was built in 1927-29 by Otis and Mantis Van Sweringen, the brothers who developed Shaker Heights.

The oldest shopping district in Ohio and the second oldest in the nation, Shaker Square was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. ...

What you see at Shaker Square today is a happy combination of nearly 75 years of preservation, enhanced by a multi- million dollar renovation in 2000-2001.

But Shaker Square is more than a shopping area. It is the heart of a lively, diverse neighborhood. Near the Square are more than 4,000 units of high-quality rental and condominium apartments — the largest concentration of multi-family housing in Cleveland — townhouses and many private homes. ...

I can understand a busy staffer, wherever the statement was composed (probably right here in Cleveland), Googling shaker square. Finding this site (we rank number one), clicking on our link, then on "About The Square." Copy, paste and voilà!

So, to whoever prepared the remarks or the copy from which they were drawn, I'm glad our page helped. Thanks for the unexpected pleasure of seeing my own words in the Congressional Record. My mother would have been so proud.

Arnold Berger

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