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Life Deconstructed: The boys of summer are home and driving me up the wall

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NOTE TO READERS

<p>FORTY FORT &#8212; Her father taught Mary Russo Ermel to appreciate music and art, which isn&#8217;t surprising when you realize the late Lawrence Russo was the artist who sculpted the statue of Christ the King that stands atop the King&#8217;s College administration building.</p><p>Her mother, the late Dorothy Russo, taught her to cook, concentrating on good-for-you foods such as vegetables, fruit and fish. &#8220;She called it (fish) &#8216;brain food&#8217; years before reports like this came out,&#8221; Ermel said, pointing to a newspaper clipping about the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids.</p><p>Even the memory of her ballet instructor from decades past &#8212; a gentleman who expected his protegees to address him as &#8220;Professor&#8221; &#8212; still influences Ermel, who will turn 91 in August. &#8220;I was a ballerina,&#8221; Ermel said, &#8220;and I still do my stretching exercises.&#8221;</p><p>Just as caring adults taught her so much during her formative years, Ermel, of Forty Fort, is eager to make sure younger generations get a good start.</p><p>She&#8217;s on her summer break from her two jobs right now, but when back-to-school season comes around in the fall, once again she&#8217;ll assume her duties as a teacher of cooking classes and as director of the Forty Fort Nursery School, which is housed in the Forty Fort United Methodist Church.</p><p>Her husband, John, works as a volunteer aide at the nursery, when he&#8217;s not busy with his part-time job delivering prescriptions. They do have a busy household, Ermel said, noting she prepared all the food for the 40 guests who recently helped celebrate John&#8217;s 80th birthday.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t difficult, she said, noting she prepared many dishes in advance and froze them.</p><p>An avid cook who &#8220;raised four children and never took them to McDonald&#8217;s,&#8221; she enjoys cooking lessons in which she shows younger children how to prepare simple crudites (raw vegetables) and little pizzas. Classes for teens might include ratatouille (a French-style veggie stew), couscous and fruit kebabs.</p><p>Ermel likes to give children little charts that explain in simple terms why vitamins are good &#8212; vitamin A helps you see; vitamin B helps you keep warm; vitamin C helps your body stop germ invasion &#8212; and she also includes tips on etiquette and table manners.</p><p>&#8220;When you meet an adult, you extend your hand to shake hands with them,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You do not call adults by their first name unless they ask you to &#8230; . You pass food to the right and take small portions.&#8221;</p><p>With a smile, Ermel recalled a success story from years ago when she had a catering business on Market Street, Pittston, and taught etiquette classes to small groups.</p><p>&#8220;A CEO called me and asked if I would do a private etiquette class for someone he wanted to hire,&#8221; she recalled. &#8220;The young man was highly qualified for the job, except for his atrocious table manners. The CEO said, &#8216;I can&#8217;t hire him like that. But if he&#8217;s willing to learn, will you teach him?&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Ermel agreed to help and soon found herself in a restaurant with a young man who &#8220;had his elbows on the table, talking with his mouth full, slurping his drink. I told him, &#8216;Everything you do, I&#8217;m going to correct you.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>There were so many corrections to give, the young man&#8217;s food cooled. &#8220;He didn&#8217;t eat anything hot during that first meal,&#8221; Ermel said. But after three dining experiences with her, the young man mastered everything from pulling out a lady&#8217;s chair for her to resting his hands in his lap.</p><p>&#8220;The CEO took him out and said, &#8216;I never would have believed it was the same gentleman.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Ermel had the satisfaction of knowing the young man got the job. &#8220;Oh my goodness, it was a chore,&#8221; she said of the project.</p><p>&#8220;There was nothing magic about it. I just taught him what I knew.&#8221;</p><p>Ideally, Ermel said, a person would be trained in manners and many other useful skills at an earlier age.</p><p>&#8220;Children have the greatest potential for learning from birth to age 5,&#8221; she said. &#8220;By age 12, you have created what they&#8217;re going to be like for the rest of their lives.&#8221;</p><p><ins>For other Life Section stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/features" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Ermel washes her hands in her Forty Fort kitchen. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Mary Ermel washes her hands in her Forty Fort kitchen. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Ermel prepares an appetizer in her kitchen, using a spread that combines sweet and savory ingredients into &#8216;Jezebel Sauce.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mary Ermel prepares an appetizer in her kitchen, using a spread that combines sweet and savory ingredients into &#8216;Jezebel Sauce.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mary Russo Ermel sets out a tray of cookies and other treats for visitors to her Forty Fort home. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL06XX17Ermel3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Mary Russo Ermel sets out a tray of cookies and other treats for visitors to her Forty Fort home. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Mary Russo Ermel shares a lifetime of learning</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

At 91, Mary Russo Ermel shares lifetime of learning with future generations