Happy St. Xavier High School Day

St. Xavier football coach Steve Specht accepted a proclamation for "St. Xavier High School Day" today. Councilman Jeff Berding (Class of '85) and the school president, Father Walter C. Dye, flanked members of the state champion football team.



Back during Cincinnati's "weak mayor" days, one of the biggest perks -- and quirks -- of the job was the power to issue proclamations.

When Mayor David S. Mann helped make a statement against peer pressure by proclaiming the week of Oct. 24, 1982 as "I Am Somebody, Period" week, it somehow got covered by the Washington Post.

Not that they were all so momentous. Mayor Roxanne Qualls proclaimed Feb 27, 1998, as "Fat Free Pringles Day." Mayor Charlie Luken issued proclamations for runaway cows, retiring saloonkeepers and visiting CBS correspondents. (The biggest controversies came when mayors refused to issue proclamations, as Luken and J. Kenneth Blackwell did during the 1980s, for Gay Pride Day.)

There may be a learning curve on other parts of the job, but new Mayor Mark Mallory has the proclamations down pat. As a state legislator, Mallory rarely ventured out into the district without a proclamation from the Ohio Senate, honoring pastors' wives, community volunteers -- and even Luken -- with embossed certificates declaring a day.

Today, for example, is St. Xavier High School Day in the city of Cincinnati, honoring the state championship football team. Councilman-alumnus Jeff Berding asked the mayor for the proclamation, which was also cheered by Bomber Councilmen John Cranley and Jim Tarbell.

If you're keeping a calendar, here are other events in Cincinnati you may have missed since Mallory took over the mayor's office:

• Nov. 13 -- Brother Early McConnell Day, honoring a 78-year-old Jerriel Missionary Baptist Church member.
• Dec. 3 -- Melvin Angelo Nix Day, honoring the founder of the Old West End Gang Ball.
• Dec. 7 -- Smart Money Community Services Day.
• Dec. 8 -- John Lennon Day. This was a promotion for Blue Jordan Records, which was having a tribute for the former Beatle at the Rohs Street Cafe on the 25th anniversary of his death.
• Dec. 10 -- "City of One" Day, part of an effort to fight the global AIDS epidemic.
• Dec. 11 -- Northside Community School Graduates Day, for the 23rd anniversary of the school.
• January 2006 -- National Mentoring Month, honoring the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters Association of Cincinnati.
• Jan. 5, 2006 -- Dr. Abdul-Rahman Jazieh Day, honoring the University of Cincinnati oncologist.
• Jan. 16 -- Martin Luther King Day. (Yes, it's already a holiday, but Mallory was honoring the work of the Martin Luther King Day Coalition.) That kicks off....
• Week of Jan. 16 -- International Printing Week, in honor of Ben Franklin's 300th birthday.

That's 10 proclamations in 14 days -- putting Mallory well behind Mayor Luken's pace of as many as 600 proclamations a year.