This week: "Sweet Dreams" by Patsy Cline
FINALLY! (ALMOST): Last Wednesday (9-13-06) the marker celebrating the Lake Shore Electric Railway's passage through the Village of Vermilion, Ohio was unveiled - and the new Rotary Centennial Park was dedicated.
It rained for a better part of the afternoon of the dedication and then - about a half hour prior to the ceremonies the skies cleared, a rainbow appeared, and the weather became quite pleasant.
Amazing!
The park opens up a new view of the river for residents and visitors of the town that will undoubtedly receive a great deal of attention once it is discovered.
The marker will be replaced in coming weeks with a sign containing a graphic of a train car passing over the bridge that once spanned the river at this location. As mentioned in a previous edition of "Views" the foundry casting the marker inadvertantly omitted the graphic. So - they have indicated that they will cast another with the graphic.
This marker will then be used to mark the place on the eastern shore of the river (at Romps Waterport) where the bridge once sat.
So! Finally (almost) the park and the commemorative markers are complete.
And you can take that to the bank. (No pun intended.)
During the ceremony Eric W. Schnittke from the Ohio Historical Society presented this certificate to the Vermilion Area Archival Society.
I know, I know - it's just a piece of paper. However; this OHS plaque is a Vermilion first and the VAAS need take some credit for furthering the historical knowledge of the people of the City of Vermilion and the State of Ohio through the placement of this marker. It is a achievement worthy of some note.
1955 VHS EMOTERS: This pic may be from the 1955 Log (VHS Annual) - but most of the peoples pictured are from the VHS Class of 1956.
Helping my sister Nancy (Emery) scan some pix from that book I kept a few of the scans to use here. I know not the play they were enacting but my, my, my how this photo is historically enlightening. Teenage girls just don't dress like this anymore.
Long skirts (Skirts? who wears skirts to school?), saddle shoes (Saddle Shoes?), jumpers (Jumpers?), scarfs (Not around the neck.) Funny.
It's not haha funny. It's just that it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. But it sure was. 50 years.
Some of these folks I'd forgotten until I saw this pic. But I remember them; Nadine Miskow, Hanna Dickason, Cheryl Barber (Chuck's daughter), and Don Mayfield. Where doth the time go?
SOME YEARS EARLIER: Some years earlier than those portrayed above the 27 people listed on the invitation to VHS Commencement Excercises graduated from the same school system. It was 1921.
Do you recognize some of the names? How about Earl Bauman; Ruth Wakefield; Erv Maurer; Sterling Smith?
My friend, and local resident, Nug Cook dropped by the other day and gave me several items for the VAAS - and this was among them. It was a keepsake of Edna M. Nieding's (also listed). Note the place where the exercise was held - the "Opera Hall" (the Town Hall).
This was scanned and then cropped in its original form - which, as you can see, was irregular.
One thing I can't help but mention pertaining to this is the fact that the Vermilion Township Hall should have remained in the possession of a public organization. It should have never been allowed to become a privately owned facility. The day will come when residents regret the fact that we allowed this building to slip away so very easily.
THE VOLUNTEERS: A great photograph from my friend "Buffalo" Bill Hlavin. And who are these happy fellow you ask?
Top L-R: Don Clink, George Hlavin, (Bill's Dad) Norm DuPerow, (Married to Ruth of the restaurant.) Harry Stuart & Ben Duperow (Norm's brother.) Bottom L-R: Ted Barret, Harry Meese (Meese Realty) & Kenneth Wellner. (Wally Wellner's Uncle).
This is a real "Keeper".
Of all the men in the group I remember Norm DuPerow the best. He and his wife, Ruth, ran Duperow's Restaurant on Division/Main Street in downtown Vermilion (next to the Erie County Bank). Once the Shack Lunch, a gift shop called Lee's Landing is now located at that site.
Norm was a friend of my fathers, and Ruth was a very good friend of my mother. They were, I believe, closely related to the Wellner Family.
Others I, personally, remember are Bill's father George: I recall that he was a rather distinguished looking gentleman; and then there was Harry Meese who I remember seeing - but never having spoken with.
I'm very certain that there are more than a few "Viewers" who knew most of these men a great deal better than I.
They were gathered together to prepare a Sauerkraut Supper for the Annual Meeting of the members of the Volunteer Bay Association wherein officers were elected.
The shadows were captured along the Erie shores at V-Bay about 1936.
Again - a great photograph.
DRUM & BUGLE: Hither is an archived pic of late Vermilionite George Harris' "Drum and Bugle Corps". It was taken by the late Roy A. Kneisel sometime during the 1930's.
This is a nice snap taken along Liberty Avenue near Grand Street looKing west.
In the back ground there is a good view of "Blacksmith" Becker's house and Walker's garage.
If this were taken in the early 1940's my sister Nancy (Emery), and brothers' Bill and Phil would have been particpants. Nancy and Bill played trumpets, and brother Philip was a drummer in this corps.
The corps performed in area parades and at the Olympic Outing Club in Vermilion. At one time Virginia Dumas Kopeke was the drum major, and "Little" George Harris was the "Little Drum Major". Some folks will remember that George Sr. would do flip flops across the football field every night where the corps practiced behind the high school (South St. school)
Note the girls standing along the parade route. Their skirts were higher than those pictured in the 1955 VHS photograph above. Also note the old legion bandwagon coming down the street behind the marchers, as well as the "Church Supper - Thursday Evenings" sign over the street.
What a wonderful look it affords us of Vermilion's past.
PROFILES: No new profiles were added to the Vermilion Biographies section of "Views" this week. However; my friend Nuggie Cook wrote down some of her memories regarding Paul and Amalie Metrakis , that are rather interesting. They are, in fact, worth sharing with everyone: I know that many longtime Vermilionites remember Paul and Emily (Paul's Snack Shop), but few of use knew much more about them. These are Nug's notes:
RICH: Memories of Paul Metrakis, for what they are worth. Paul came to Vermilion with a friend, George Jansen, from Canton. They roomed at our house, in 1941 and started a business in the little hole-in-the-wall by the White Inn run by Don Englebry. Paul's partner, after a few weeks, ran off and took all the money. My dad, E.J., lent Paul enough money to restart his business, and Paul used the ice house to keep his food safe. In fact, he kept using Dad's ice house all through the years that he was in Vermilion. Paul lived with us during that time and would cook our Sunday dinners. He kept the door shut because he didn't want us to know the secret ingredients he used in his cooking. In later years he visited Greece, came back with his wife, Amelia. He complained about her, and yet he did bring her here. I kind of got the impression that Paul's Greek relatives fixed him up with Amelia. He was always good to me and I got many a free Paul's special-sauce hot dog sandwiches. Paul also owned a place called "Cracker Box" in Amherst and hired Clayte's sister, Neota to work for him. Her younger brother Clayte worked for Paul's Snack Shop. I met him there in 1940. Isn't it strange, Rich, how lives move around and intertwine in a small town? I drove my mom, Ella Mae, to Axtel every Sat. because her orchestra supplied the music for square and round dancing. On March 1946 at the end of W.W.II, Clayte showed up at Axtel. We started dating and later married in Sept. Paul was at our wedding also, so we never know where we will cross each others paths in life. I like the UCC logo, "don't put a period where God has put a promise." We just never know, do we? Shalom, Nug
Memories of Paul Metrakis, for what they are worth. Paul came to Vermilion with a friend, George Jansen, from Canton. They roomed at our house, in 1941 and started a business in the little hole-in-the-wall by the White Inn run by Don Englebry. Paul's partner, after a few weeks, ran off and took all the money. My dad, E.J., lent Paul enough money to restart his business, and Paul used the ice house to keep his food safe. In fact, he kept using Dad's ice house all through the years that he was in Vermilion.
Paul lived with us during that time and would cook our Sunday dinners. He kept the door shut because he didn't want us to know the secret ingredients he used in his cooking. In later years he visited Greece, came back with his wife, Amelia. He complained about her, and yet he did bring her here. I kind of got the impression that Paul's Greek relatives fixed him up with Amelia. He was always good to me and I got many a free Paul's special-sauce hot dog sandwiches. Paul also owned a place called "Cracker Box" in Amherst and hired Clayte's sister, Neota to work for him. Her younger brother Clayte worked for Paul's Snack Shop. I met him there in 1940.
Isn't it strange, Rich, how lives move around and intertwine in a small town? I drove my mom, Ella Mae, to Axtel every Sat. because her orchestra supplied the music for square and round dancing. On March 1946 at the end of W.W.II, Clayte showed up at Axtel. We started dating and later married in Sept. Paul was at our wedding also, so we never know where we will cross each others paths in life. I like the UCC logo, "don't put a period where God has put a promise." We just never know, do we?
Shalom, Nug
One item I would add to this is that while researching for the bio sketch I found both Paul's and Emily's addresses in Greece (where they died) to have been listed as the U.S. Embassy. My assumption is that this is the case because they were, in fact, U.S. citizens living in Greece. It's probably a matter of protocol. But it's not something with which I'm familiar.
WHAT'S A FOOT: A few Vermilion Area Archival Society pix and artifacts are currently on display in the windows of the empty store next to Vermilion's Convenient Store (Near the river bridge and new Rotary Centennial Park).
And, of course, everyone is absolutely welcome to join this group. Lifetime memberships are $100. Yearly memberships are $10 a person; $18.00 a couple; and $5 for a student.
Please take the time to 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" and elsewhere 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. Partially due to the horrors taking place in the Mid-East the continued suffering of the peoples in Africa go virtually unnoticed by both our nation and the United Nations - and that should not be. Contributions to that home may be made to a Vermilion expatriot Larry Hohler in New York.
CLASS REUNION UPDATES: The 50th Anniversary Reunion for the Class of 1956 from VHS to be held on September 23rd. As yet the committee has not been able to locate Lorraine Johnson Bulloch, Marilyn Gergel,Rosemary McCrady Rouse, Claudette Merkly Miller or Louis Emen. Anyone knowing of their whereabouts can contact Leslie Roberts Ennis at 5870 Haber Rd., Vermilion, OH 44089. The class is putting out a reunion booklet and would like class members to please send Les information and any photos if they've not so.
Bob Ferry, is heading up the VHS Class Reunion for 1987...20 years.
I was unaware of it but more than just a few folks do use this site as a link to their respective class sites - so - here's the VHS Class of 1959's site back for your convenience too: Remember that site is located at: Class of '59 and it'll be updated it as Roger (Boughton) receives enough new pictures and information from classmates to make it worth reading. So send him any information that you would like to share with other classmates and he'll put it up for all to see and view.
It is my understanding that some of these links are not working, or not working well. If so it is a technical problem belonging to the respective parties operating those webpages.
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.4, Issue 26, September 16, 2006
© 2006 Rich Tarrant