A Walk Down Memory Lane

Part Six

                                           

                                               

                         Michael Peter Duruttya III                    

                   1948-2020                      

Michael's nickname was "Puggy" and he was born on March 11. He performed with Jimmy and the Soul Blazers for 50 years though retired from the band in 2015. Michael graduated from Alliance High School in Alliance, Ohio in 1966.  A musician since he was in the 8th grade, he played in his father's band and with the Bob Hamilton Band filling in on saxophone, drums and bass fiddle.  Puggy had groups of his own such as The House Rockers and Pug and the Down Beats before joining Jimmy and the Soul Blazers.  Other bands Puggy played with were Clockwork, Copperfield and PW Blues.

Michael did many commerical radio spots and loved sports.  He was an avid Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns fan.  He also was a great cook!  

Michael is survived by the love of his life, his wife Jody; daughter, Andrea Chatigny; two granddaughters, Ashley and Airiona; several great-grandchildren and his sister, Michalene (Michy). 

When Michael picked up his saxophone on the Bemus Point floating stage .. his Pops fans knew they were going to be treated to some soulful notes. Job well done.  RIP Puggy.

Pat Locke, Maestro Muse 

Jimmy and the Soul Blazers 

Jimmy and The Soulblazers are an American soul and funk band from Alliance Ohio.  Since 1966 they have played for audiences across the East coast and the Midwest.  Their genre of music not only covers soul and funk, but rhythm and blues, soft rock and Doo-wop.  They perform songs recorded by such artists as Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the O'Jays, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Three Dog Night, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Sly & and Family Stone, Jr. Walker and the All Stars, the Four Tops, Ray Charles, Frankie Valli, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Joe Cocker and many more.

The band has had an album and two forty-fives released on Kapp Records.  They signed a recording contract with MCA in the 70's.  The Soul Blazers continued to tour and perform in concert and lounges during the 80's, especially for class reunions. In the 90's, they still maintained the original members, repertoire and high energy shows featuring the Motown sound.

Come Get These Memories

Italian Festival at the Stark County Fairgrounds in Ohio

Canton Civic Center .. Canton Ohio

A year ago on this date, April 8, 2020, I featured Jimmy and the Soul Blazers.  This group of musicians and their vocals were my favorite band to perform on the floating stage in Bemus Point so I decided to feature a second story with different photos, an audio clip and video from a 1992 concert in Canton Ohio. 

Pat Locke with Jimmy Korleski

Thanks for the Memories! 

Pat Locke 

Maestro Muse

 

     Fun food trucks @ the Pops!

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse

                                         

 

                                                                   

                                                                                1999

                                        

                                            A Summer Symphony in the Chautauqua Sky

                                         

"My two younger brothers and I were in the screen printing business together for 40 years in Allegany NY beginning in my basement on main street and eventually moving into and rehabbing the old Old Fellows Lodge in the business district. I did design and illustration, Peter ran the business and was the unofficial ambassador of the whole town.  Mikel did design and technical work to keep the machinery and the employees bustling and entertained.  We sold the buildings, business and name in January. 

Our first posters were screen printed, by hand, in Allegany and later were offset printed by Register Graphics in Randolph NY and digital prints at Citizen Printing in Allegany, our next door business neighbor. 

Dan Dalpra, the one-man Chamber of Commerce, gourmand (a connoisseur of good food) entrepreneur, business and entertainment whirlwind asked us to design a poster for his first Pops concert on the roof of the Italian Fisherman in 1998.  Suddenly, the earth began to spin faster and before we knew it .. 23 years had flown by with us caught up in a dazzling blur of bigger, better and crazier summer adventures on the lake, on the lawn, on the roof and on the stage.  Our goal was to make each poster more colorful and more fun than the previous year!

We had a blast!  People thought we were working the whole time!"

Dan Wintermantel, Pops Poster Artist

https://danwintermantel.com

Dan Wintermantel and Dan Dalpra, two men named Dan certainly accomplished their goal by making each poster more colorful and more fun than the previous year!  

Posters from 1998-2019, to date, are being featured on this blog. 

Pat Locke

Maestro Muse