DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE: And here is a reasonably nice shot I captured with my Nikon D70 of Vermilion's inner-harbor on Novermber 2, 2005. All is quiet. All is well. I remember a time when the docks and boats used to come out of the water a great deal earlier than they do today. While there aren't a lot of boats still in - most have been dry-docked and shrink-wrapped - many of the die-hard boaters remain. The charter boats are still docked by the Red Clay restaurant/McGarvey's Landing.
Election Day and Veteran's Day are both over. And I'm glad. Both are annoying.
Political signs should be illegal. And veterans day is filled with too much melodrama and too litte reverence for human life and suffering.
It is a fact that 90% of all war casualties are civilians.
As a war veteran I can only say that I totally agree with the old spriritual which goes something like, "I'm going to lay down my sword and shield - down by the riverside...I'm gonna study war no more,study war no more. I'm going to study war no more."
VERMILLION POST OFFICE- c.1895: Officially, Vermilion was spelled with two L's until March 2, 1894. Unofficially, some folks still spell it the old way. Technically, either way is acceptable.
The name was "officially" changed because there was, and remains, another township with that name in Ohio. If memory serves me correctly it is somewhere around Ashland, Ohio. To avoid confusion the northern township, village, and river (arbitrarily) had the second "L" removed from their spelling(s). To my knowledge it was never a matter for discussion or much debate. In brief, nobody cared.
One thing that I've always found to be rather curious, however, is the name itself. It is, of course, the French word for the color red. And legend has it that the place was named by the indians for the clay they found along the stream from which they made a red colored paint.
I have no argument with the concept. From all I've ever read the name "Vermillion" had "always" been attached to the place where our city was eventually built. However; something tells me that the Indians who frequented this place didn't speak French. So I truly wonder what they called this place.
Ironically it was a former Vermilion Postmaster who inadvertantly made me aware of this question. His name was Paul Whitt.
Once upon a time Paul, reflecting on the color of the river one summer's afternoon, called it the Oschitt. And given the fact that the stream is hardly crimson/vermillion I do believe he stumbled across its original Indian name. Oshitt, Ohio. It has a nice ring to it.
But back to the photograph. At the time of this pic the post office was located in half of what later became Hart's Corner Drug Store (now the Main Street Grill - ice cream parlor).
In my reproduction of this photo for this page I took notice of the reflection in the window to the right of the doorway. Therein, very clearly, one can see the Lake House (later the Maud-Elton) Hotel across the street (on the corner of Liberty and Division/Main Streets). That is actually the clearest view of the old hotel in its original location that exists. I've no idea who owns the original photograph - but I'd surely like to get a chance to make a copy from the original. Absolutely, wonderful, and amazing!!
VFD c.1940: This pic of Vermilion's wonderful Voluteer Fire Department was likely captured something in the 1940's. I just remember that old fire station. And I do remember nearly every one of the firemen pictured:
(L-R) Lloyd Mason, Carl Blaser, Brice Jeffery, William "Bill" Eisenhauer, James "Jim" Friday, Andrew "Andy" Fazey, Burt Hollosey, Carl "Sonny" Blaser Jr., Ray Shellhouse, Elsworth "Els" Dickerhoff, Chief Roy Hullbert, Clyde Risden, Cort Simons, George Neiding, Floyd Hull, Stanley Atkinson, Carl Knott, William "Bill" Miller, and Harvey Krapp.
Gosh, some of the names and faces I'd not thought about in years; Like Bill Eisenhauer. I remember that he and his wife ran the water department. Andy Fazey - worked at Wakefield's. Burt Hollosey ran Vermilion's street department. Nobody before nor after Burt did such a great job. Els Dickerhoff was a great guy. He sold insurance for Wester-Southern and was a high school sporting official. Floyd Hull I don't remember well, but I remember his wife Diddy (she ran his coal/concrete business, and reminded me of the radio character "Ma Perkins"), their son Nelson "Hullie" who took over the family business, and their daughter, Lucile (Clark), who is still a good friend to me. George Neiding and his wife, Nell, lived next door to The Vermilion News shop on Grand Street, and Harvey Krapp was just a real real nice fellow. I have a tape recording of Harvey reminiscing about his "growing up" in a "growing up" Vermilion.
This pic is sure to bring back many memories to many old Vermilionites.
SOME REFLECTIONS: November 8th 2005 I went "hunting" for a picture. Somehow I always find myself at Main Street beach. Those who grew up in Vermilion may understand. Some of my earliest memories are of this place. I can recall coming here with my kindergarten class (above the old A&P Store in the Fischer Building) when I was five or six years old. The addition to what is now the Great Lakes Historical Society's Marine Museum, and the lighthouse did, of course, not then exist. It was F.W. Wakefield's Harborview home. It had a great rod-iron fence around it. And the beach below the slope (in the pic) was grown over with what seemed to me to be very tall weeds.
I learned how to swim off this beach. There is a place called the "table-rock" some distance off the shore that is/was perfect for shallow diving, and the only way to reach it when I was small was to know how to swim. So I worked at it and worked at it once summer until I taught myself how to swim. My elation at my new found skill is undescribable.
Later, in my teen years I spent a good number of hours sitting on an old tree trunk that had washed ashore behind the museum during all seasons - at all times of the day and night. There was nothing that compared with being on this beach when a summer storm swept across the lake from the west. To stay until the rains a winds slapped you in the face is another one of those precious experiences.
And here I still am. Sometimes I feel like that kid in the book/cartoon movie who grew old, and used his favorite tree throughout his life (I can't remember the name of the author/singer/songwriter who wrote and drew it right at the moment.)
CONJECTURE: This is pure conjecture on my part but I'm thinking that this is a photograph of the sailor known as "Old Jib" (the gift store "Old Jib's" is in reference to this gentleman). My speculation is based on a description George Wakefield gave of him in a book (I don't yet own) I found in Vermilion's Ritter Library.
Mr. Wakefield referred to him as "old Giblets" and is, I sincerely believe, a very honest portrayal of the man - both in name and spelling.
The pic is a Pearl Roscoe picture, and the identity of the man is not given. But my thought is that Roscoe had a reason for taking the picture, and knowing some of the history of the person in question I am assuming that this is he.
Wakefield recognized him as a "character", but not particularly a character one would like to have near them for any length of time. He apparently liked being on water but not in it, and he didn't have much use for using it as a main refreshment.
He was, according to George, from an eastern port on Lake Erie. He was a fisherman - of sorts. He used the boat in which he is photographed to earn his keep. And most importantly, he was not afraid of the lake. He was the stuff of which some very tall legends can be made. A neat photo.
MERRY XMAS: Moving along with things I've designed a series of Vermilion Christmas greeting cards. All 3 are featured above. They're very interesting.
Folks who are beginning to look for Christmas items might like to consider these cards, my book, "Yesteryear", and/or the Vermilion Area Archival Society's calendars.
The cards are $2.00 each/12 for $20.00. They will be printed (and personalized if one chooses for $1.00 extra) on demand. None of the cards will be produced without specific order(s). All portray old-time Vermilion scenes. They are 5.5"x 8.5" cards and envelopes printed on a textured, heavyweight paper. All are quality products. Or as I am wont to say, "Nice Stuff!!"
Persons wanting to order can simply contact me via e-mail, snail-mail, telephone [440-967-0988], or come and see me. I am about town.
WHAT'S A FOOT: Well, election day is done and new-comer Jean Anderson has been elected the first full-time Mayor of Vermilion, Ohio. Vermilion Council remains essentially the same.
On Thursday (11-17-05) a Community Forum on Wal-Mart will be held in the auditorium of VHS at 7p.m. This will include Vermilion City officials, Vermilion Township reps, and someone from Wal-Mart.(I wouldn't expect too much from this. The die is cast and Wal-Mart will locate here whether we like it or not.)
On Monday November 14th "Hank" Fischer will reflect on his 92 years spent in the Vermilion area. This is a regular meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society. The gatherings are normally held in the Community Room in Vermilion's Ritter Public Library at 7pm. These meetings are free and open to the public.
I will be recording this meeting and digitilizing the recording. Interested parties will be able to obtain a CD of Mr. Fischer's thoughts from me at cost. I can be contacted by e-mail, snail-mail, by telephone [440-967-0988], or (if you're lucky :) in-person at home or at the church kitchen. But be patient. This takes time.
The Vermilion Area Archival Society 2006 Historic Calendar featuring Vermilion's fishing industry is now available at several locations around Vermilion for $5.00.[Maryann's Beauty Salon; Brummer's Candy Store; Vermilion YMCA] These are new calendars that feature Vermilion's fishing industry. Anyone interested in one of the calendars can also contact me. Shipping and handling costs run about $1.35.
Also note that there are (unfortunately) some mistakes on the calendar. The name of Sue Backus under the "Business and Corporate Sponsors" heading is spelled incorrectly. And the month of March is listed incorrectly as being "2005". The days of the actual month, however, are correct for 2006.
Also, visit (or re-visit) the Hope Children's Home site linked below because there are some additions there that you might find interesting. With all the bad things happening on the "dark continent" it's really nice to know that there are some places where the light does shine brightly. Please keep in mind that the needs of Hope Children's Home are on-going. Contributions to that home may be made to Larry Hohler in New York.
A WORD: I have talked with a few folks about this segment and would like all to know that I have some stickers with this banner on it that are very fit for public consumption. Persons contributing to this part of the page will receive a page of these stickers to plaster on some idiot's back if they send me a "stupid people" story that I can use (here)and are brave enough to also send me their address.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES: There is absolutely, and unconditionally nothing different in this area that hasn't appeared here for the last six weeks. If something changes you'll see it here.
The Beat Goes On: The page is generated by the dreaded Macintosh Computer and is written and designed by (me) Rich Tarrant. It will change weekly ~ usually on Saturday. Bookmark the URL (Universal Resource Locater) and come back at your own leisure. Send the page to your friends (and enemies if you wish). If you have something to share with those who visit this page, pass it on. And if you see something that is in need of correction do the same. My sister, Nancy, is a great help in that respect. It only takes me a week to get things right. And follow the bookmarks. You might find something you like. If you experience a problem with them let me know. Also, if you want to see past editions of this eZine check the new archives links below.
Links to other sites on the Web
Vol.3, Issue 34, November 12, 2005
© 2005 Rich Tarrant