4 minute read
The “art” of finding one’s talent
By Irwin Weinberg, MCA Member
Have you ever walked through an art and craft festival and thought about how ridiculously talented some people are? I would do that and then, in a brief state of self-reflection and the resulting depression, wonder why I never had the skill and talent of those individuals. If they happened to be members of my generation, I wondered if they discovered their talent later on in life.
I was thinking about that scenario when I first got to know MCA member Dennis Schaab. We would go to the Thursday morning MCA breakfasts together (as we lived in the same community) and talk about many things.
Schaab was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Buffalo State Teachers College in 1966 with degrees in special education and elementary education. Moving to New Haven, Connecticut, he attended Southern Community State College to obtain his master’s in special education. He met and married his lovely wife, Maureen, in 1968, and they raised two sons and have five grandchildren.
At one of our MCA Thursday breakfast sessions, we talked about the 2023 movie that had just come out, called “The Boys in the Boat,” and how much we enjoyed it. As it turned out, in the 1930s Schaab’s father, a member of a rowing crew, became a six-time North American champion rower. Further, in the early ’60s Schaab himself, following in his father’s footsteps, became a three time North American Champion rower. I was amazed, and yet again had the feeling that I missed having a worthwhile skill or talent.
With rowing in his background, and after obtaining his masters, Yale University hired Schaab to coach the freshman rowing team. After a year at Yale, he went back to Buffalo to teach. Then, in 1972, he moved to Hauppauge, New York, where he taught environmental science in middle school for 29 years until retirement and Naples, Florida called his name.
Like quite a few of us who were new to Florida and retirement, Schaab started playing lots of golf. This got old fast as he felt he wasn’t being challenged intellectually. During this period of time, his grandchildren began attending Temple Shalom’s school. Maureen and her son are Jewish, but Dennis and his daughter-in-law, Jessica, were not, although the grandkids were being raised Jewish.
With the encouragement of both Maureen (already a member of WCA) and Jessica, Dennis started attending classes offered at Temple Shalom and found them intellectually stimulating. Eventually, both Dennis and his daughter-in-law converted to Judaism. Dennis subsequently met Les Nizen, who sponsored him to join MCA. (At that point in time there were only 300 members of MCA.)
Dennis and Maureen also enjoy going to the theatre and listening to classical music (they have been members of Artis—Naples for over 20 years). Dennis also enjoys the Jewish Book Festival, taking cruises, and many MCA sponsored trips.
Dennis’s journey of self-discovery didn’t stop there. Sometime around 2011, he stopped playing golf and rediscovered an early hobby. He began to nurture a talent in painting with the professional assistance of a former college friend. To date, he has shown and even sold his work at art festivals and given away many of his paintings to family and friends. (Writer’s note: I certainly hope he now considers me a friend. I have several available walls in my house.)
As I had mentioned earlier, some people are fortunate to have learned they have exceptional skills and talent much later in life.
Perhaps there is hope for me yet!
