Friday, April 25, 2008

Local dancers honor friend

By Katie Libecco

YOUNGSTOWN – There’s a Facebook group called, “Penelope: The Man, The Myth, The Legend” with more than 1,000 members for Billy Schraider.

The description of that group reads, “If you go to the various bars in Youngstown, chances are, you’ve seen the man with the smooth moves we all call Penelope. He just liked to go out, have a good time, drink tall drafts, and dance the night away.”

Schraider passed away at his home on April 19 after a seven-year battle with cancer at the age of 52.

Thursday, those who have danced with him over the years came together to remember him.

Duane and Lisa Pitzer, who run swing night at Cedars Lounge, dedicated the April 24 night of dancing to Schraider.

“When we come here, we think of him here and we always will,” Lisa Pitzer said.

“He was one of the few people that ‘got’ it,” Duane Pitzer said.

The couple says they met Schraider while taking lessons at the Hubbard VFW and got to know him through swing nights at Amys College Campus 2000.

They brought pictures of Schraider dancing and Christian literature to give to anyone who needed help coping with the loss of a friend.

“Everybody would say, nobody appreciated life more than he did,” Lisa Pitzer said.

Schraider was an inspiration for Mineh Ishida, who ran local swing nights in the area. Ishida said he met Schraider through dancing, running into him at all of the different venues for swing dancing in the area.

“He was a big inspiration for me in life. I feel like he ‘got’ ‘it,” Ishida said, noting how Schraider never cared what anyone thought of his dancing. “I try to be like that.”

Nick Danyi also ran a swing night locally and said Schraider was a “great character.”

“He was the most interesting character you could ever see. He would dance with anyone or anything. He’d dance with a pole, or by himself,” Danyi said.

As Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” faded out, Danyi held the microphone and asked for the crowd’s attention. He explained the night was dedicated to Schraider and briefly spoke of his life and death before asking for a 30-second moment of silence.

The usually raucous night of dancing was eerily silent. Those who knew him and those who didn’t alike cast their gazes down in his memory. Young and old didn’t move, didn’t whisper for that moment.

Then, those with drinks toasted to Schraider, saying, “This one’s for Billy.”

Danyi said he came out to Cedars Thursday because he wanted to be a part of Schraider’s memory.

Erin McGee said Schraider was one of her favorite people to dance with, having met him at Amy’s College Campus 2000.

She reminisced about how genuinely concerned he seemed about her. She returned the kindness by inviting him to holidays with her family. McGee said while he never made it, he’d always call.

“He was a great guy,” she said.

Schraider is buried at Calvary Cemetary in Youngstown. His obituary from The Vindicator is available on Vindy.com