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Where is this camera actually posted?
This one is on the historical.I'm a small place on the roof up here.
And it gets this whole view all the way down McCain, like all the way to the go this way.So cool.I'm so creeped out right now.You're watching me this whole time.
Look at this. Whoa.This is surveillance.How does anybody get away with anything?
Not too many do.We're at the police station with Chief Bryce, Cindy's husband, Jimmy.He's been on the force since 1980. Dinorah's first and only black police chief.
He's alone behind the desk, sitting Star Trek-style at a console, staring at a huge screen checkered with tiny livestream images.
— This one here, I mainly leave on the drugstore, because, you know, drugs are one of the only places open right now.
— There's a shot of the gazebo, of Chubb's pub, of the bench up at Palmer Park where the old guys hang out.Most of them look like still shots.No cars, no people, no movement at all. On the TV next to him, the Price is right on mute.
— It's really a good tool, because you can be at all these places all at the same time.
— That a tiny town like this even has its own police force is kind of insane.But it's a pretty tiny force.The cameras help.
— A good example, we had a guy that never left the area of his house, and he was challenged a little bit, and he never left. his area.So all day, firemen, police, volunteers, you know, everybody's looking for him, looking for him.
And then somebody just, because we had dogs come in and everything.We spent all day walking through the woods and all that.Then about seven o'clock in the evening, somebody said, well, I saw him at Unimart at 10 o'clock.So I go to Unimart.
— Well, this one's out because it's focusing on the wire, but we saw him walk this way.
— Chief Bryce is clicking through the video feeds, tracking the lost man like a phantom.
— And we see him go past the station, and you see him walk down past Dollar General, and he went up First Street, and then come here.Luckily, it was a turn where we tried to keep it, But we see him walk up the sidewalk.
And you see him walking right here.Halfway across, he went over the side.No.Spent hours and hours and hours.And I come in here and I found him in five minutes. followed him all the way.
Gosh, was it, were you the one who watched, that saw all this?Yeah.Tell me, what was it like when you saw him walking up towards that bridge?
It was terrible, because you knew where he was going.Because like I say, he was challenged.And for him to come off the hill downtown, that's something he never did.And you know, to watch it.
and then to see it, and then to have to tell the family that.And then maybe four or five days later, they found him in the river.
Wow, would you ever have found him?I wonder if you didn't have, I mean.
Eventually he would have surfaced.
I'm Jean Marie Laskus, and this is Cement City.Chapter 7.Make sure you take care of Vicky.
I want to get there by 5, so if we go in the car, or what's the fastest way?Oh, OK, take the car.Yeah, maybe.Sorry.
Yeah, yeah.Oh, wait a minute.Is that her?That's her.Erin and I were on our way somewhere.It kind of doesn't matter where.This is how it always happens.We're on our way somewhere, and then we spot someone we know, and we get sidetracked.
Hey there.How are you doing?I'm fine.How are you?Good.We haven't seen you in a while.I know.I haven't been out.What?No, we're not the news.
We're doing a documentary about Donora.I got my reports, by the way.They all wrote, um, the reports.Yeah.About clouds.You had them?Yeah.Would you show them to us?Yeah.Give me a minute.Um,
It's been a few weeks since we met MC, the cloud lady, standing up on the balcony of her apartment building.I've been thinking about her and the way she was with those kids.I've been wondering how she's doing, what she's up to.
I keep thinking how hard it must be to try and make a life here, alone, on this island.I haven't forgotten about those cloud essays.
I got Holly, Natalie, all of these.These are about their favorite clouds. I mean, they got, one of them got a picture of the cloud.Look at that.You know?So, I mean, they all really put some work into this.Okay?
I'm going to take pictures of them so I can read them.
Actually, would you mind reading just like a... I can't right now.Oh, okay.
So, I just, I can't right now.What the heck happened?My boy.
Yeah, yeah.These kids are my life around here.
Are you safe?I mean, is he gone?
Yeah, I'm safe now.I got friends here.He is gone.I called the police.But you can take these, but would you please bring them back to me?
I don't want to take them from you.
You can make copies of them.
Well, we can come back another... We could take a quick picture of it.
And then we'll come back and do it.
I would love to come back when you're in a good place and whatever and hear all about that.Tomorrow, I'll be fine.Or will you be... Do you want my number?I would love that, yeah.Could we... Do you have a... No, I don't think we have your number.
— Yeah, these kids are my life around here.
— Erin's fumbling for her phone to take down MC's number.We're both a little flustered.MC's standing with her arms folded, like she's cradling a baby.She's wearing the same white tank top she had on last time.There's a tattoo peeking out.It's faded.
Someone's name across her heart. She looks older than I remember.More rundown.More vulnerable.So they brought these to you right after, like, when they were due, right?
Yeah.The day they was due, they knocked on my door and they said, we got the reports!And they was so happy.Thank God my food stamps landed.Because I had bags of chips and two liters of pop and I just gave it to them. They was so tickled.
They came down here.They all sat in the yard.I gave them a blanket.They sat on the blanket, ate their chips, drank their pop.Then they was wired.Drove me nuts.But it was fun.
Were you surprised they did it?
No, I knew they would. That's how close I am with them, you know?And they need this type of attention.Some of these kids are broken homes.You know, some of the kids just don't know who to talk to.And I give them that, you know?
And it's just, it gives them an out.Gives all the kids an out.I wish I would have had one.
MC starts telling us some things about her past and how she ended up here that I'm not going to get into.And not because she asked me not to, but because the details aren't the point.
Because really, there are MCs everywhere, especially in places like Donora.
I hadn't thought about this before, how towns like this can become a kind of refuge for people who need a place to go or a place to hide, a place to become anonymous or become someone new.
And that's kind of the sense I'm getting from MC, that she wants to become someone new.
Yeah, they all call me ma.When did that start?The day I moved in.The one girl, she come up to me, she says, you got the most prettiest eyes.And I said, hi, baby.She said, I like you.And she brought me a pair of jeans because I had no clothes.
You didn't have any clothes?No.
Were you leaving something that you had to take? And they took you in, kind of?
The kids just, you know, they made me... They brought me back to me. And they gave me hope and they gave me something to where I could give back again.It gives me something back, you know?But I'm here and I'm good.
— MC's looking me right in the eyes, like she's trying to reassure me that this is a story with a happy ending.I can't stop looking at her tattoo.I really hadn't noticed it before.There's clearly a lot I hadn't noticed.
When we met her that day with the kids, I guess all I could see was how much they loved her.Maybe that's all I wanted to see.This angel on a balcony, teaching them the names of clouds.Everything she's saying here, I couldn't even imagine it.
I just had no idea. We'll get the kids' side of the story later, from Kitty and Nivea.How they found her sitting on the curb outside the six-pack shop.She was crying.She said she'd come on a bus.She didn't know where she was.
They told her, you're in Donora.They said, this is Donora.That was amazing that you moved here and landed in that circle with them.
Well, God has a reason for everything.I believe that wholeheartedly.I mean, I put my kids up for adoption.And these kids are all I got.And they're gonna make a difference, because they're so bright and smart, you know?
Thanks for letting me see these.
I gotta get them framed whenever I get money.I'm gonna get them framed and hang them up.So, but that's all for now.
Well, glad we ran into you.
I gotta get a sweater on so the kids don't see me like this.I'll rate them to you.I really will.
For the past three seasons of Gone South, we've covered one story per season.We tried to figure out who killed Margaret Coon.
She told me, I'm going to kill you.I said, well, do it, bitch.Go ahead and do it.
We delved into the violent world of the Dixie Mafia.
I'm an outlaw, and I was a thief, but I'm far from being the psychotic nutcase that I've been made out to be.
And we tracked a serial killer in Laredo, Texas.
Just turn around, please.Turn around.
Now, Gone South is back for a fourth season.But this time, we're doing things a little differently.So, in Gone South season four, we'll be bringing you new stories every week with no end in sight. I'm Jed Lipinski.
Welcome back to Gone South, an Odyssey original podcast.Listen and follow now on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every week.
but there's no chance.There won't be a chance in hell for those kids to amount to anything.
And that way, it gets better.
These people across the street, they're drunks, they have no electricity, no water, no heat, no nothing, okay?
In my world, which I deal with a lot, okay, and with our country and that mess our country's doing, they're gonna hang a goddamn Confederate flag.All right, look over there in the window.
All right, so now, how long do you think it's gonna take for somebody to put a brick through that window?Because there's a camera here, that it's not gonna happen?I'll shut that sucker off.
So how long do you think they just hung out at five minutes ago?So I'm kind of like, really?You know, right across from me, right in my face. Pumpkin pie, what can I do for you?
— Erin and I are at Cindy's Deli downtown.We're watching her sling macaroni salad between drags on her cigarette, and listening to her tirade about this flag that just went up across the street.
— And while you're here, admire that Confederate flag across the street, okay?Go ahead.— Okay.
You don't see a lot of confederate flags in this town.In fact, this is the first one we've encountered.So it does hit you.Pretty hard.But for Cindy, it's also personal.Her husband Jimmy's black, and they have two biracial kids.
Whoever put that flag up there clearly intended to hit a nerve.But Cindy's not the type to roll over and take it.She's the type to imagine the brick she'd like to throw through that window.
She won't throw the brick.But goddamn if she won't tell every person who walks through that door how much she wants to. Cindy's had her deli for 13 years, but she's lived in Donora for almost 40, ever since she met Jimmy.
She told us how her mom spotted him in his cruiser outside the Harley store one day.A young Donora cop.He had this big mustache and shades.He was gorgeous.He looked just like a black Tom Selleck. Cindy's mom called her and told her to get down there.
So, she jumped in the car and drove there.And the rest is history.They had two kids.Cindy got a job driving a forklift at a food plant.When it closed down, she started working as a teacher's aide for special ed kids.That's when fate stepped in.
A teacher friend was getting married and couldn't afford catering.So Cindy baked up some chicken breasts, some big pans of lasagna.She cooked for the whole damn crowd.And it sort of clicked that she could do this.
So she scraped together $5,000, rented out a storefront downtown, and put a sandwich board out front.
— Are we getting American cheese?
— I'm standing on the other side of the counter, next to this life-size poster of Cindy's daughter, Jaycee, in her cheerleading uniform.Cindy's such a mom.
— Oh yeah, that's my baby on the wall.
I'm watching her slap some butter on a slice of sandwich bread.It's a lot of butter.Then she zips over to jostle a fryer basket and stir the bean and bacon soup.She's working the microwave and the George Foreman grill.
At the back of the kitchen, there's an old woman, watching her, laughing.She's sitting in a lawn chair next to her walker, clutching a flyswatter shaped like a flip-flop.
She was robbed yesterday.
She fell asleep on the bench at 6th Street and some piece of crap woman stole her wallet.Just letting you know.
My husband caught her though.I didn't have no money in my wallet.She had no money in there, but there was my food stamp card.I was worried about that.Yeah.So they got her.
They got it back.They got her.
It was a woman.Crazy Ann Marie. What is your name?
So this is Vicky, Vicky DiGidio.Cindy's told us about Vicky.She's kind of a legend.The story goes, Vicky grew up in a big Italian family down on 14th Street.They had like 14 kids.Vicky was one of the youngest.
There was Vicky, Viola, Chachi, and Sunny.There was something different about these four.People called them slow.Their mom never let them go to school, never let them go out.They never learned to read or write.
Vicki comes in every day and hangs out behind the deli counter.Cindy feeds her lunch, and makes sure her bills are paid, and buys her puzzles and crayons for her coloring books.
Tell them about the new coloring book you bought.
A bunch.The new coloring book.What's the big one you bought?The Ten Commandments.It's got beautiful pictures.I cut it.There's one blue, and then the other one.Hello?I'm going to be 90 years old. You're the last living member of your family.
Two o'clock, I'll let you know.Yeah, we'll meet you over there.
How long have you known Cindy?
How come I didn't know you?Yeah, I probably knew you as soon as I started dating Jimmy because she was just such a fixture in town that everybody just knew Vicki, you know?
And our secretary, her name was Patty Lignelli, and she was the borough secretary, and Patty looked after her, like, for a long time.
Something I've started to notice about Cindy is the way she talks about time.Everything in relation to Jimmy, to when she met Jimmy.It's like the birth of Jesus Christ.
It doesn't matter what you ask her, whether it's when the skating rink was built, or when Chummy became mayor, or how long she's known Vicky.There's before Jimmy, and there's after Jimmy.
And I just got to know her through the years, you know, and then Patty got colon cancer and she got sick.And when Patty got sick, she says to me, make sure you take care of Vicky. And I said, OK, and I kept my promise.
So she used to live in this little shit apartment above the taxi.
— Listening to Cindy, I keep thinking back to that day at the police station with Jimmy, Chief Bryce.I keep picturing him sitting there at that console, Star Trek-style.
— So we took the stove off of her, and we gave her an electric stove.
— It's like these two are made for each other.They're a Donora Power couple. He's behind the scenes, watching, overseeing.And Cindy's down here on the ground, making sandwiches, taking care of Vicki.
I can't help but wonder what would have happened to Vicki if she didn't have Cindy.If Cindy hadn't stepped up and stuck to her word.Or if Patty, the secretary, hadn't stepped in to take care of Vicki in the first place.
Yeah, they're from Pittsburgh.
And you come way out here.
Yeah, I come way out here.So, I watch out for her, the police look out for her, you know, the people who run the towers look out for her.And it's pretty much, that's what we do.She's our little... ...Denoris Queen.
I fagged out, I was in the hospital, Cindy had to take me to the hospital.Oh my God, I fagged out.
I'm at dinner at Duke's one night, and my husband gets a phone call, and they said, Vicki fell down over the construction sign down Unimar, and cut her head open, and the ambulance took her to the hospital.
So I call the hospital, and the nurse says, are you family?I said, look, buddy, I'm all you're getting, okay?Let me tell you.I says, take the phone in her room, and tell her that Cindy Bryce is on the phone.
So he goes in the room, and he says to Vicki, Cindy Bryce is on the phone.She goes, that's my mother!
Keith, you know, I got robbed.You got robbed?
This guy's in full uniform.
He's tall, bald, and posing.
On election night.And at the bar, Duke's Cafe.
— I guess he's one of only two full-time cops on the force.
But there are also a bunch of part-timers, and they all come here for lunch.They're all Jimmy's guys.Cindy treats them like family.She makes them hoagies, and gives them shit if they forget to shave.
— OK, and then while you're here, just for general purposes, how long do you think it's going to take For a brick to go through that window, that confederate flag that he's hung across the street.Turn around.
Did you see it?Oh, it just pains me.You know what I'm saying?It pains me.And, you know, let me tell you how I really feel.
Apparently, Vicky loves calling the cops.She flirts with the ones she thinks are cute, which is basically all of them, but especially the young ones.
Cindy loves telling this story about this one time when Vicky asked a new guy for his number, and he told her it was 911.So she called and asked for him by name. All the cops know Vicki.Like Cindy said, she's a fixture.
— So people like her, she's an easy target, so they're watching, waiting for her to fall asleep on the bench?
— Yeah, they know that if she's out and about, she's an easy target.If you go downtown in the morning, you'll find her sleeping in her walker, either in front of the pharmacy, in front of the gazebo, in front of the museum. She'll be out there.
But our cameras are fixed that way, so she's pretty well watched.
So you see that kind of like... She stole it for drug reasons.
There's no doubt in my mind.She stole it for drug reasons.If we didn't have a drug problem in Donora, it'd be Mayberry. It'd be Mayberry and the biggest things we would have would be, complaints would be illegal parking pretty much.
But drugs have drive, they drive everything.They drive the assaults, they drive the thefts, they drive everything in town.So you're, what is your name?Keith Charlton.
Have you been to the Smog Museum?Oh yeah.Okay, that's my brother.
That's your brother, okay.Yeah, we spent some time, oh your brother. Of course, they're brothers.This huge, bald ex-marine with a taser and the high school history teacher who gives slide shows on Saturdays.
— Keith the cop and Brian the historian.
— I have my brand new clicker that I just got on Tuesday.
— I'm studying Keith's face here, looking at his jawline and the arch of his nose, leaning in, searching for some resemblance.— It's kind of embarrassing, but it's not the first time I've found myself doing this sort of thing.
Case in point, the Franzelios.Art the organist and Wally the constable and Guido from the bar. Then there's Deanne Pavelko, the first lady, and Ed, the insurance guy, who's apparently her first cousin once removed.
It's like everyone we meet here is related to someone we met the day before.Or someone we will meet tomorrow.
— Unless you've got any other questions.
— Thousands, but you should go eat your lunch. — I can't believe you're Brian's brother.— Bear with me here, but this is a serious phenomenon.All these brothers and uncles and cousins, the Burkharts and the Karlaks, and good lord, the Vianskys.
The Vianskys are everywhere.Deanne's actually a Viansky.That's her maiden name.She's one of eight kids, including six sisters.
All their names start with D. Deanne lives right across the street from her sister Debbie, who lives in the house they all grew up in.
Then there's Doreen, who's married to Marty Burkhardt of Marty's Pizza, where they have this little needlepoint hanging on the wall next to the menu.It says, a small town is like a big family.
— Which is starting to feel like one hell of an understatement.
— It's almost 1 o'clock, and the lunch rush is dying down.Cindy Drew's stocking the napkins, and Vicki's up and ambling toward the door.— She's pushing her walker with one hand, and struggling to hold her pants up with the other.
She's on her way to see Dr. Petro next door.Dr. Petro, who's almost as old as she is, who's known her as long as he can remember, who delivered the baby she had in her 40s with a one-legged guy named Mitro.
Back when she didn't even know how babies were born, Vicky's had a life.She's an hour early for her appointment, but the receptionists know her.They let her sleep in the waiting room.
Vicky DiGidio, the last of the DiGidios, 89 years old, Donora's queen.
Every time I door open, a fly comes in.Come on, get over here.Get over here, cutie.He just wants to make me insane.Hold that.
You're pretty good at that.
And that's what we do.Yeah, I think I'll have stuffed chicken breast next week.Pork chops.Tomorrow is definitely fish day.
Well, I see a light on.Definitely a light.
I mean, could they have any more blinds?Any tighter?Closed?Erin and I are sitting in my car outside MC's apartment building.We've been trying to reconnect with her to talk about the cloud essays the kids wrote for her.
She really wanted to show us those essays. So a few weeks ago, we called her and made an appointment to come by.When we showed up for that original appointment and came inside, she was on the phone.And there was this guy standing over her.
Maybe her boyfriend.I'm not sure.She seemed flustered.So we offered to come back another time.We tried calling her a week or so later, but her number seemed to be disconnected.So we popped by her house. A different guy answered the door.
And told us she wasn't there.And that her phone wasn't on.He didn't offer to take a message.We tried one more time.We even called ahead just to confirm.This time she answered.And she told us to come on by.
But when we got there, no one came to the door.As we drove away, we saw her walking down the street in the other direction.
She was limping, trailing behind the first guy, the possible boyfriend, with her hair dyed black and heavy eye makeup, not wearing a coat.She didn't look good.
Every time we've talked with MC, she's asked us to come back.Please come back.She wants to read us those essays.So here we are yet again.
Man, it's so creepily boarded up.We're sitting in the car outside her apartment, staring at the closed up blinds.Let's just dial it.We're imagining the worst.Let's see what happens.This really isn't about the cloud essays anymore.It's ringing.
That's good.She's there.Look.I think that's her.
Let's just pop up.I just hung up.Say hi and they're just popping by.
Do you need a doctor or something?
Oh, man.Can we get you something?No, I'm good, babe.
You sure you don't need anything?
Yeah, I'm positive.All right.All right, babe.
I didn't hear the beginning of what she said.She said she had a seizure.She said I had a seizure right now? Okay, you, can you play it back for me?Not, not, no, no, no, no, no.
I mean, just, you said, Hey, and she said, she said, it's not, it's not a good time right now.
I just had a seizure and I said, are you okay?And she said, yeah, her friend is coming.Sorry.Her friend is coming and get it.And I said, you need a doctor.And she said, no, she's getting my caretaker or something, but I don't know.
This does not sound good.
That's what she said.We probably shouldn't sit here talking about it.Should we leave?I mean, she clearly didn't want us to stick around, so...
Well, okay.She's alive.She still lives there.She has an illness of perhaps, you know, she could have, she could have epilepsy and this is something that happens to her.She has somebody that seems to be a caretaker that seems to be on call.
I don't know. Driving away, I can't stop looking into my rearview mirror.MC's still sitting there in her stoop.She seems so small and alone.
I'm trying my best to come up with an easy explanation for what's going on with her, something to make myself feel better.But deep down, I know it's messier than that, and I have no idea what to do.
I'm thinking back to that day with the kids, with the Spanish and the sign language and the clouds.It wasn't that long ago. I just hope it's true.She just looks so, so like, I'm just like, I don't know.That's something really bad.
I just, I just feel worried.But like, you don't want to inject yourself into someone's life.
That's not a familiar car to me.That stands out.
It's a quiet night on McCain Avenue.It's always quiet, especially at night.We're standing next to the old iron lamppost outside Duke's Cafe, talking with Cindy.She's having an after-dinner cigarette and watching the cars drive by.
There's not much traffic here, so every car is notable, especially the ones that don't belong.
I'm getting like my husband in my old age.He knows cars, license plates.We'll be home, all right?We'll be home, sitting in the living room.And you'll hear one of the policemen run a plate.They'll say, you know, it's RFD 123.
And he'll go, oh, that's so-and-so's car.And I'll go, why do you know that?Why?Why do you know?Why do you know?Or they'll call for like an address and he'll go, oh, he lives at 513 Thompson Avenue.And I'm like,
How do you keep all that stuff in your head?I don't get it.But he knows, he knows where everybody lives, you know, how many kids they have.So, I guess it's just years of practice.That was a Benz.
See, I'm not liking that, that was too, you know what though, that's two very, very high-end cars, but they had a class reunion here and they had the benefit, so it could be out-of-town people.
Now, we saw your car, I think, in the parking lot the other day, and we were looking at the stickers.Yeah, it says, City Brace for Council.
I have to give that credit to one of the young police officers, Josh Haynes. Because when I decided to run, they printed me out all this stuff off the internet of campaign slogans.So I was like going through them.
And I'm down at the police station, and I'm going, what about this one?What about this one?And he goes, come on, Mom.All the police officers call me Mom.They all do.Some call me Mom, some call me Mother.And I just say they're all my sons.
So he says, come on, mother, you've got to come up with something original.We don't want nothing off the internet.
So he's standing there and all of a sudden he turns around and he says, Sidney Bryce for the Newark Council, catering to all the people's needs.I said, Haynes, wow, it comes right off your brain.And that's what we rolled with.
Cindy's just a few weeks away from claiming her seat on council.The general election's next month, and she's all but guaranteed a spot.We've been spending a lot of time with her lately, and it's been fun.Cindy's a hoot.You should see her swat a fly.
She's dangerous.But she's also a total softie.Just five minutes ago, she was out here crying, telling us about this time a few years back when a little girl wrote a letter to Santa. All she wanted was a stove and a fridge for her mom.
And in steps Chummy, the old mayor.Chummy calls Jimmy, and Jimmy calls Cindy, and they're all crying over this letter.And within hours, that girl's mom had a whole new kitchen and presents under the tree.
— Right, I still cry.I go, oh!But that's how these people are.You know, the minute you know something, you need something, it's going to happen.Somebody is going to jump in, and somebody is going to do it.
And that's like, no, I'm having that spaghetti dinner for Jan.Did you see the Ricky?Hey Rico, how you doing, honey?Would you see your mom?Okay, I was wondering how she was doing.Good, good.Her dinner is coming together really nice.
Yeah, a lot of people are jumping in.I'm getting a really good turnout.Yeah. All right, see ya.That's Jan and Ricky's son, Rico.
Benefit for, yes.I'd never been to a spaghetti dinner benefit before coming to Genoa.But there seemed to be a lot of them here, for a lot of things.
There's one happening this weekend down at the Russian Club, for a young mom named Bernie, who broke her neck diving into her pool.
Then there's Ida Jean Godfrey's house fire, and Dookie with the brain cancer, and the wheelchair-accessible bathroom that they're building for Bosco, who lost his toes to diabetes.And the list goes on.
This one Cindy's planning is for Jan, a local teacher who has breast cancer.A lot of them seem to be for people with cancer. Cindy's been talking about Jan's dinner for weeks.About the ticket sales and the t-shirts.
About how those deadbeats on council won't waive the rental fee for the Borough Social Hall.
Oh, and the response I've been getting from the people.They're jumping out there and they're getting me donations and they're getting me baskets.I mean, I'm going to be short.Rick, I think I'm up to 50.
From her list and from my list, we're at least at like 35, 40 Chinese auction baskets.And that's not even, you know, there are other people who have committed to doing that.And so I think it's going to be a really good thing.Really good.
This is something that you won't see in big towns, I can tell you that.
That's Ricky Rodriguez, owner of Duke's Cafe.This teacher Jan, who they're having the benefit for, she's his ex-wife.Apparently, Ricky's planning to be at the benefit.He'll be back in the kitchen, cooking the noodles.Everyone helps out, is a thing.
I guess Cindy does a lot of these dinners.She's like the benefit queen.And there's a whole apparatus for these things.She's mapping it all out for us, starting with her staffing plan.
She'll put her friend Janie, the parrot lady, at the takeout table.Her daughter Jacey will be taking pictures.Her husband Jimmy will join Tommy Thompson in selling tickets for half the take.
She's even got a plan to ambush the volunteer firefighters at their training the night before. They'll be setting up the tables.They just don't know it yet.She's got it all figured out.Every detail, down to the traffic flow.
She'll lay out the food like a trail of breadcrumbs, so people will have to pass by the tables with the auction baskets to get to the desserts.They'll walk the perimeter.They won't have a choice. Cindy wants every set of eyes on those prizes.
So I have like five sheet cakes.I have 25 dozen chocolate chip cookies.I got desserts like, matter of fact, Vera Klein's coming to see me this week from the Christian Mothers.So they actually told me, don't ask Vera for the Christian Mothers to bake.
Go to Renee Brooks, who's the president of the Christian Mothers. So we're politicking here.You got to know who to ask.So I'm going to see Renee and say, hey, Renee, you think you could ask them Christian mothers to do some baking for me?
Because you figure they all got a specialty and they're all going to want to do it.But in the meantime, we got more than enough money, cash money, to buy what we need.I'm good with that.
As far as sauce and spaghetti and salad goes, I got more than enough to buy that.
So.Cindy takes another drag on her cigarette and gives that car the finger.She never misses an opportunity to give someone the finger.She's unapologetic.She's scrappy.I remember that's one of the first things that struck me about Cindy.
The other day at her deli, we got to talking about her childhood.And it really helped me understand Cindy, her survival instincts. The way she tells it, she grew up in this little coal mining patch a few towns away, one of 11 kids.
She used to pick coal off the railroad tracks for her grandmother's stove.I guess all the kids did.But Cindy had a system, even at six years old.Instead of picking it up a chunk at a time,
She'd stand with her little coal bucket right at that point where the train slowed down and wait for the guy to kick her a pile off one of the cars.That's what Cindy does.She's inventive.She's learned to be inventive.
I guess sometimes you don't have a choice.
And it was funny, not funny, but we coincided with the payday, Ringgold School Teachers' Payday. Yeah, I'm no dummy.I'm no dummy.They get paid the Friday before the benefit.So there won't be an excuse.
See, here's the thing about this when you're in small town.You don't have any fundraiser that doesn't coincide with Social Security Day.You got to do it right around check day.That's when it's a bonus.
I'm learning so much.I would never have thought of that. I'm laughing here, but it's also kind of dark.I think Cindy knows it's dark.She sees the irony.Social Security Day, it's a farce.But it's also a reality.
When there's so little to go around, you've got to get creative.You time your fundraisers with check day.You work with what you've got.
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and it's true.I feel like you see it everywhere around here.There's this system in place.It's not something you notice at first, but it's always there, working silently in the background.
One person needs a stove, someone else is sick, and in comes this whole network of people to help.That's just how it is.That's Donora, a town where little old ladies get handed down like family heirlooms.
Make sure you take care of Vicki, because if you don't, then who will?
But like I said, I got a feeling that we're going to have a big turnout at the door.I got to get back in there with Janie.She's going to be mad I left her.OK.
We'll see you, ladies.Yeah, we'll be talking.
Last call on Chinese auction.Last chance to get your Chinese auction tickets is now.
In a few weeks, we'll go to Cindy's dinner for Jan.It will be one of the biggest benefits this town has seen in years.More than 650 people will show up.They'll buy t-shirts and tickets for half the take.
They'll win baskets of soap at the Chinese auction, and stealer's gear, and moonshine, and bags of dog food, and so many scratch tickets with more chances to win. Cindy and her team will serve up 113 pounds of spaghetti.
And when they're done, Cindy will give the leftovers to Janie for her parrot Oliver, who loves spaghetti.Not a single noodle will go to waste.
We can't get no more, right?
Hey, I can get him a little lower.
Cement City was written and produced by Aaron Anderson and me, Jean-Marie Laskas for Odyssey with Cement City Productions.Our story editor is Michael Benoit.Sound design and engineering for Cement City is by Mike Woolley.
Production assistance by Kira Witkin.Research and fact-checking by Tim Maddox.Our credits music is by Donora. Cement City is an Odyssey original podcast from executive producers Jenna Weiss-Berman, Leah Reese Dennis, and Maddie Sprung-Kaiser.
To learn more about our series, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and X, at Cement City Productions, or visit our website at cementcity.org.
We love each other, then we scream and scratch and break apart But that won't last for long, we'll claw back from the dead to where we started Too much of anything is rarely ever good for us And too much fire in this passion's getting dangerous
This love, this love, this love is gonna self-destruct This love, this love, this love is gonna self-destruct I think we might be doomed Darling, honey, don't you think this love was self-destruct?
I think we might be doomed Darling, honey, don't you think this love was self-destruct?
This love is gonna self-destruct This love, this love This love is gonna burn us out This love, this love This love is spontaneously combust This love, this love This love is gonna self-destruct
Darling, honey, don't you think this love was self-destruct?Darling, honey, don't you?
I can't even begin to tell you how bad it was.It was Lord of the Flies in a building.It was called Straight Incorporated.
This is the story of Straight Incorporated, an experimental drug rehab for teenagers that infiltrated communities across the country in the 1980s during the height of the war on drugs, where kidnapping, brainwashing, and torture were disguised as therapy.
It's the origin story of the troubled teen industry, which continues to profit from the desperation of parents and the vulnerability of their children.And its roots can be traced back to a cult called Synanon.How do I know this?
Because I lived through it.My name is Cindy Etler, and this is Season 2 of The Sunshine Place. Listen to and follow The Sunshine Place, an Odyssey original podcast in association with Robert Downey Jr.and Susan Downey.
Available now on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts.
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