The Magic Bridge
I have always been fascinated by the Olive Street Bridge that leads
from Niles to McDonald. There are
5 generations of my family that have a connection to that bridge which
I have nicknamed the Magic Bridge.
The magic began in 1918 when Grandpa Tony Musolino and his friend Annunzio
Cua walked to work from Niles to the Carnegie Steel Mill in McDonald. Grandpa
Tony lived with the Cua family on Youll street until he was able to purchase
his own home but both men walked to work
and had to scale a steep set of
steps to reach the bridge that took them
into McDonald. In 1921 the bridge was
completed and the steps rem
oved.
It took ten years before my
grandmother, mother and uncle could arrive here from Calabria to join Grandpa
Tony. I remember watching Grandma Francesca pack his lunch to go to work at the
mill. The work days were from 6AM to 6Pm and Grandpa had a huge lunch box
fashioned of steel with a leather strap. Grandma would lovingly pack that lunch
box with four sandwiches made of fresh sliced Italian bread from Chieffo’s
bakery, filled with salami or prosciutto meats from Morabito’s. Each sandwich
was wrapped in waxed paper. She would also pack a fruit from one of their trees
and a treat from Nickel’s bakery
.Gran
dpa’s lunch box was steel with a leather
strap.
By 1950 Grandpa Tony was driving across the Magic Bridge in his
Willys Jeep with the canvas top as he headed to Carnegie Steel. He eventually
retired from the mill but the photo of his work crew from 1918 was proudly
displayed on the wall in the kitchen for many
more years.
Early crew at Carnegie Steel in
1918.Grandpa Tony Musolino is in the first row , fourth from the right and Annunzio Cua is
third row , seventh from the left, walked to work with my grandpa.
During World War II my mother
crossed the Magic Bridge as they needed women to fill the jobs in McDonald that
were left as the men went to war. As the
war ended , my father left his home on the East End of Niles to cross the Olive
Street Bridge for his new job in McDonald. There must have been some magic in
that bridge because it brought two people together at the steel mill who wed
and created three great kids, me and my
siblings.
Dad crossed the Magic Bridge
until his retirement , put me through college and in the 1970’ s I found myself
crossing that bridge to work in McDonald as a teacher. In August of 2015, the
Magic Bridge was reopened as the Mayors
of Niles and McDonald , bands and many more paraded across the new bridge for
the grand re-opening.
August
2015 
–re-opening of the bridge
I still cross the Magic Bridge to visit my niece from Niles who
married one of my students after meeting in college .They have two beautiful
little girls who seem to have magic powers that pull me across that bridge to
visit the as often as I can.
Delta Kappa Gamma Convention 2016
