Jack Barry

Jack Barry (1887-1961) was a Meriden native who was known as a defense wizard as a baseball shortstop, a position he played for a decade as a pro.

Barry played for the major league baseball team, the Athletics, right from Holy Cross College in 1908. He was a World Series winner in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914. He was then traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he continued to play shortstop in pennant winners in 1915 and 1916. In his only season as manager, he took the Red Sox to a second place finish in 1917.

Louis "Kid" Kaplan:

"The Meriden Buzzsaw"

Louis "Kid" Kaplan (1901-1970) was a featherweight boxing champion of the world in the mid-1920s.

When Kaplan was 5 years old, his family moved from Kiev, Ukraine to Meriden.

On Dec. 1, 2005, he was inducted into the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003. Kaplan was nicknamed "The Meriden Buzzsaw" because of his perpetual-motion style.

Meriden's Max Muravnick was Kaplan's former sparring partner. In a recent interview, the 101-year-old Muravnick said: "He punched all the way through the fights. He didn't waste any time with anybody."

Kaplan's fighting career began in 1919. Six years later he won the world title.

He successfully defended the title twice, beating Babe Herman both times, once in Waterbury and once in New York. Kaplan surrendered his crown in 1926 because he couldn't make the weight and moved up to fight in the lightweight class. He continued to fight until 1933.

In his 14 years as a boxer, Kaplan posted 108 wins (26 by knockout), 17 losses, 13 draws and 12 no-decisions.

Baseball Hall-of-Fame's Connie Mack

Conni Mack (born Cornelius McGillicuddy - 1863-1956) spent 62 years in professional baseball, a handful of those years as a catcher. Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics from its founding in 1901 to 1950. As manager he won nine pennants and five World Series. He had previously managed Pittsburgh in the National League from 1894 to 1896. He had changed his name to Mack so it would fit in the small print used in the half-column box scores back then.

The Baseball Hall-of-Famer came to Meriden in 1884 when league games were played at what was known as the trotting park off Kensington Avenue. He then played for the Hartford Club and then headed for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Mack returned to Meriden again in 1953 for the opening of a little league named in his honor.

He died at the age of 93 in 1956.

"Big Ed" Walsh Pitches in the Silver City

"Big Ed" Walsh (1881-1958) was born in Plains, Pa. He came to the city to play for the Silver City team in the state league in 1902. His first-year effort of 15-5 got the attention of Newark in the International League. He won nine and lost three for that club in 1903. The Chicago White Sox bought his contract for $750. In 1908, Walsh had a 40-15 record; he pitched 464 innings, struck out 269 and walked only 56.

In the 1906 World Series against Pittsburgh, he won two games in a 5-3 series victory.

Walsh was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, and he was honored by the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance.

Walsh resided in Meriden during and long after his baseball career. Walsh was employed by the City of Meriden at the Broad Brook filtration plant. He retired from that post in 1953. He died from cancer in 1958.

Janet Leigh Brings a bit of Psycho to the City

Janet Leigh was welcomed to Meriden by Mayor Mark D. Benigni in February 2002 at the Augusta Curtis Cultural Center to kick off a weekend Janet Leigh FilmFest.

More than 40 years after "Psycho" appeared on the silver screen, actress Janet Leigh, then 74, made a stop in Meriden at a dinner reception for the Center's Janet Leigh FilmFest. National Amusements and the 12-screen Showcase Cinemas in Southington donated the use of one 160-seat theater for the festival.

Leigh came to Meriden at the request of author Laura Van Wormer, who was the editor of Leigh's 1984 autobiography, "There Really Was a Hollywood." The stop in the city was just before her promotional tour for her new novel, "The Dream Factory."

Rosa Ponselle Sings Through two Centuries

Rosa Ponselle (born Rosa Ponzillo, 1897-1981) began her career as a "song slide girl" in silent film houses and as a dinner concert singer. In 1915, the soprano moved on to Vaudeville with her older sister Carmela in New York City.

The Vaudeville appearances evolved into opera in 1918 when she appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House in Guiseppe Verdi's "La forza del destino" with Enrico Caruso.

She received favorable reviews from the critics everywhere she sang from coast to coast.

Ponselle was greeted over seas as a diva in her European engagements between 1929 and 1933, which included the Royal Opera at Covent Garden in London and the first Florence May Festival in Italy.

She retired from the Met in the late 1930s, and found a new career after the age of 50 as artistic director of the Baltimore Civic Opera, coaching young singers. She died in 1981.

Her final wishes were to have The Rosa Ponselle Fund with a mission of providing musical projects for the enjoyment of the citizens of Meriden.

Over the years The Rosa Ponselle Fund has continued its mission. The Christmas portion of 'The Messiah' was performed Dec. 10 of last year under the direction of artistic director Dorothy Barnhart. It was accompanied by a 15-piece professional orchestra at Meriden's First United Methodist Church on East Main Street. The Rosa Ponselle Fund sponsored the soloists, soprano, Beverly Myers, alto Laura Mashburn, tenor Wayne Rivera and bass Ted Stasiuk of Southington.

President Theodore Roosevelt Arrived by Carriage

President Theodore Roosevelt visited Meriden in 1903. A flag hung from almost every window in the city, as President Roosevelt rode in a carriage through the streets. Guards on horseback accompanied the presidential entourage as it made its way along State Street, heading for City Hall.

President Roosevelt arrived on his presidential train to Meriden at the urging of U.S. Sen. Orville H. Platt.

Veterans of the Civil War were at the soldiers' monument. Children on the lawn of the Methodist Church received a special bow from the President.

Upon leaving the city, the 25th president delivered a speech: "Fellow citizens, I am most pleased with your welcome and most glad to see your beautiful little city, and I thank you for your attention."

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Drew City's Largest Crowd

Franklin D. Roosevelt drew one of the largest crowds to ever gather in the center of the city, jamming East Main, Pratt and West Main streets. The day was treated like it was a holiday. Factory workers were allowed to leave their benches for half an hour, and public and parochial schools dismissed classes.

The Presidential motorcade, with U.S. Sen. Francis T. Maloney riding with the president, stopped at Crown Street, where Mayor Stephen L. Smith gave the official greeting to President Roosevelt at Crown Street. The Record provided a public address system.

The residents were reminded by the President that he spoke at the very same spot as a vice presidential candidate in 1920. He mentioned Meriden as the "silver center of the world." He finished his speech and headed for Waterbury.

Mrs. Roosevelt returned to the area in 1958 to speak at Choate Rosemary Hall history classes.

Presidents Grant, Wilson, Truman and Lincoln

Other presidents who have stopped in Meriden include Ulysses S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson and Harry S. Truman. Abraham Lincoln visited Meriden during the campaign before his first election as president.

Robert De Niro Involves Residents in "Jacknife"

Robert De Niro gave Meriden a boost when the cast and film crew for "Jacknife" arrived in 1988.

An open casting call in April of that year brought thousands to Platt High School. Police handed out 58 parking tickets that day. It seemed no one cared how or where they parked. All they wanted was a shot at the big time.

The film crew shot scenes in Hubbard Park and at the Uptown Garage on East Main Street. In May, filming also took place at a home on Linsley Avenue; the set was illuminated half a block away by huge spotlights atop cherry pickers in front of Graeber's Pharmacy and Beloff's Woman's World.

Some of the shrubbery in the front yard was removed for the scenes. The same shrubbery was returned to the yard after filming was complete.

The movie "Jacknife" cost $8.5 million to make.

Church & Morse supplied rope for fishing scenes on the Salmon River; Lyon & Billard Co. delivered plywood, lumber, nails and hardware to the film crew; and Milner's Café played host to members of the "Jacknife" crew on their off hours.

The hat of Francis Schmidt, owner of the Colony Street service station, became part of De Niro's costume for his part as a Vietnam vet named Megs, who works as an auto mechanic.

The film, which also starred Kathy Baker and Ed Harris, premiered in the city on March 26, 1989, at Meriden Cinemas 10.