ALL BUT EAGLE
Be prepared . . .
The lead singer in Yiddishe Cup, Irwin Weinberger, is A.B.E. (All But Eagle). He tried to get an Eagle Scout badge as an adult, but the national office wouldn’t give him the badge. I’ve seen Irwin swim. He can do it now, HQ!
Irwin Weinberger, 11, and his father, Herman (with cig), 1966.
If the Scouts would give Irwin the badge, he would donate money to the Scouts. (My guess.)
Did Irwin ever get the Ner Tamid religious service medal? (Yes.)
The Boy Scouts religious service medals — like the Ner Tamid thing — were attractive because they were real medals. For the Episcopalians and other Christians, the medals looked like British flags, with lots of crosses. Very cool. The Ner Tamid medal was an eternal light. Not as cool, but cool.
Boys’ Life. I miss that mag. Then again I miss a lot of things, and Boys’ Life is way down the list.
Just above Bosco.
I’ll miss Irwin. He’s moving to North Carolina. Fly like an eagle, brother.
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Steven Greenman (violin, vocals) and Mark Freiman (trumpet, vocals) are joining Yiddishe Cup in January.
Irwin’s first Yiddishe Cup gig was a bar mitzvah luncheon at Suburban Temple, Beachwood, in 1990. His final Yiddishe Cup gig was last week at Wiggins Place, an assisted-living facility in Beachwood. Join Yiddishe Cup and see Beachwood!
6 comments
Tell Irwin I have a friend in Asheville, NC. He moved there last year from Columbus. If he wants to make an instant friend down there, let me know.
I became a Star Scout, which was about five merit badges, before I bailed on Scouting. Eagle was one hill too many. I did get the religion merit badge, though: I had to memorize all the books of the Bible (Methodist version) and serve as an altar boy. I liked lighting the candles and snuffing them out. The memorization part, not so much. Goodbye Irwin — we made great music on GOBA together. I’ll see you in NC!
I probably knew Irwin before you did – when he was a student at the Cleveland Inst. of Art and used to come to the Library. He will be missed.
I was into scouting. I made life scout and was one merit badge short for Eagle. Also I was a counselor at our
local overnight scout camp for several years. We had
some other Jewish counselors.
Boy Scouts was where I learned to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes.
I was a boycott for exactly one week. Attended a meeting at my neighbor’s house and we practiced marching in the street. I ain’t a-marching anymore, I said, never to return. Forty years later, my youngest wanted to join a troop so I went with him to a large meeting at a church on Lee. This was during my refusing to stand for the Pledge and National Anthem period. We sat while others stood…he went to a couple of more meetings without me before he came to the same conclusion. Gotta teach ’em young.
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