It may have been more than 60 years ago, but Victor Lee Gabriel remembers it well. And it happened right here in Bridgeport.

 

Just a kid, Victor was in the presence of two of the three individuals I am about to talk about in this week’s blog. He was joined by his father, the late Victor J. “Block” Gabriel and the late John Raymond Tiano, better known to all as “Sheriff.”

 

It was 1960 and Victor was heading out to what was then known as The Benedum Airport. The three individuals had to pick up some fairly recognizable cargo in an era when airport security pretty much did not exist – nor was it really needed.

 

“We got on this plane, I was still so little, and there was John (F.) Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy and John’s brother Bobby,” said Victor. “They were in town for a political event. It was when John was running for president and West Virginia was a key state.”

 

The only thing unique about the visit on the plane was the trio did not have winter clothes with them and it was cold. Bobby Kennedy didn’t have the winter gear either, but he departed the plane and headed to the now defunct Stonewall Jackson Hotel for the event taking place.

 

“It didn’t seem that odd,” said Victor. “When you were with that group, well, anything and everything happened.”

 

The group also included the late Dominick “Beezball” Basile. Those are the three gentlemen pictured in this article from a past West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival. Victor said those three, along with their friend, the late Dr. Joe Manchin who ran his business where Hardee’s in Clarksburg is located now, were the original Rat Pack.

 

“They could measure up with any of those guys,” Victor said with a laugh.

 

Victor alluded to stories he could tell, stories he can’t tell, and stories he probably does not know about. And that leads to the point of this blog – the stories, and history, folks of this nature had in their possession.

 

Most are gone, many others are fading, and some are still going strong despite dwindling numbers. They are important to all of Harrison County and beyond. Even though the folks in this photo are from Clarksburg, and specifically North View, we all know a few men and women in their later years who have stories to tell. If you have not asked them about their past, by all means do so.

 

Many of these folks will be gathered today and Sunday at the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival – and not just folks of Italian descent. Do yourself a favor and start a conversation. I can assure you that you will not regret it.

 

The three in this photo were a rare breed indeed. I do not like to use the term “legend” when talking about people as I mentioned in my past blog when Sheriff Tiano passed recently. These three not only meet the criteria by anyone’s standard, but they also exceed it.

 

The individual I knew first was Beezball. My friend Patsy Trecost’s father was involved in politics and as a kid I got to meet Beez. The thing was, Beez kept track of your birthday. And when your birthday hit and you were old enough to vote, Beez made sure you registered.

 

Like most of the people back in the 1980s, you registered like your parents. And my parents were Democrats – please refrain from political commentary.

 

Beez was a regular at every single political event. If there was an elimination dinner, he was there. A public question and answer forum, he was there. A critical meeting involving a government organization, he was there.

 

As for Block Gabriel, I got to know him in my early writing years in the rafters of the Notre Dame High School press box. This would have been in the mid to late 1980s and Block was not afraid to fire a few cigarettes up during the game.

 

Actually, he fired them up back-to-back-to…well, you get the idea. The entire rafters of the gym looked like a fireworks display went off.

 

Like his friends, he was everywhere. Block, who passed on May 3, 1998, actually used to do public address announcing for studio wrestling at the Carmichael Auditorium in Clarksburg, where Bruno Sammartino used to wrestle regularly. I remember him telling me about those days and listening in awe. Victor even told me he announced an exhibition boxing match there featuring one Jack Dempsey, the world champion.

 

Like his friend Beez, he was everywhere. And if you did not see him, that probably meant you were not out or you were at the wrong place.

 

And, of course, there was Sheriff. Of the three, he was the one I knew best. Partially as he outlived his friends by many years, and partially because his social circle more than just intersected with mine.

 

There is no good place to start with stories involving Sheriff Tiano, who passed Oct. 6 of 2021 at 96. The reason for that is there is no good place to stop. I am pretty certain I will go to my grave never knowing a person who knew more people, who had more stories, who was more connected, and more beloved than Sheriff Tiano.

 

You throw the other two together and, well, you had a novel of short stories or a novel of believable stories hard to believe – unless you knew them. My only regret is not having the common sense to put a tape recorder in front of any of them and let them just talk.

 

Some of you reading this will have a chance to take in some stories today and this entire Labor Day weekend, as well as the weeks, months, and years ahead. Do yourself a favor and ask to hear those stories. Unlike me, you will not have to live with regret of not capturing some real local history no one may have ever heard of.

 

Editor's Note: Pictured, from left above, Victor "Block" Garbriel, John "Sheriff" Tiano, and Dominick "Beezball" Basile.