This week: "Blue Suede Shoes" A 1956 Hit by Carl Perkins
AN APOLOGY: T'were a wonderful week for collecting pretty shadows. This pic of the E&R Church steeple reaching into a beautiful Autumn sky caught my eye. So I placed it in the flash disk of the Nikon D70, then into the Mac X 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5, funneled it through Adobe Photoshop CS2, and loaded it to this page this a.m. The process is absolutely, unconditionally, amazing. But none of it is without pitfall. Little of what I do with camera or computer is the result of formal training. Working with all this digital stuff has been accomplished by doing and learning as I go. And that's important. Tis important because some folks have questions that I cannot answer. I'm not a "techie". All this "digital stuff" I find simply fascinating - sometimes to the point of enormous distraction. And so - when a "Viewer" asks me why they can't find this or that - or why they can't access an archived page (or two...or three) - I'm not always sure I can give them a suitable answer. But the following things I will offer thee:
If a "Viewer" is using the "Views Search Engine" in an attempt to find a photo that included text (in the photograph) it likely won't happen. None of the text included on/in gif, jpg, or jpeg images/headings/banners will be picked up by the search engine. The only searchable items are words which appear in the body of the text that accompanies the images.
Whilst I do believe that I can notate the images so that the engine will make them discoverable, please keep in mind that to make the process comprehensive I will have to edit some 200 electronic pages containing at least a thousand (or so) images. And that will require a great deal of time, and no smaller amount of patience.
Now as to those folks who have a problem accessing the "Views Archives". I don't know that I can actually help at all. By and large the problem(s) you are experiencing may have to do with your computer(s). You might do well to consult your local computer whiz on the subject. He/she can probably fix the problem in 5 minutes.
However; there are times when the problem is mine. In those cases I sincerely appreciate finding out about them so that I can immediately correct them.
I hope the helps.
THE SUPER SUPER: From Texas my cousin, Dave Lindsay, forwarded this pic of one of the finest Vermilion School Superintendents who ever walked the halls of Vermilion's schools; Cletus "C.K." Dewitt and his wife, Grace.
Mr. Dewitt came to Vermilion as a teacher and coach. He, along with persons like Willis Gebhardt, originally worked as a teacher and coach at Vermilion's old State Street School. As time passed DeWitt worked his way through the system to the Superintendent's position. As the head executive of the schools he oversaw the system during an era of substantial population growth in the community. South Street School was enlarged at least twice during those years, and when the Ford Motor Company came into the region he oversaw the construction of a new highschool and did the groundwork for the construction of several more elementary schools. He was a very approachable and visible community leader.
His house on Jefferson Street was one of only two completely steel constructed homes in, what was then, the village. (I think of him every time I pass the place.)
Mr. DeWitt passed into God's hands on July 19, 1974 at the tender age of but 71 years. His pretty wife, Grace, made her journey to eternity on December 13, 1983 in Akron, Ohio. She was 80 years old. They had a son, Richard, who was born in 1929, and another named Jack who was born about 1934.
KYLE'S: Before the 4-lane road was built on Vermilion's west-side this was a relatively common sight at Kyle Motors (Buick - Pontiac) garage/showroom on Decatur Street. Autos and trucks heading east on Routes 6&2 would come up a hill toward the garage and just before reaching the garage the road turned abruptly to the left/north. Folks who didn't pay attention to the road signs met the fate seen in this c. 1950 photo. A few folks lost their lives here.
Our family home was just across the rairoad tracks near this site. One night back in the 1950's my older brother, Bill, was just settling in for the night (Actually it was the morning. He was in his 20's. What more can I say?) when he heard a terrible crash. He didn't need anyone to tell him what had happened. He immediately jumped out of bed, and ran over to the source of the noise. There he found a fellow in a car who was hurt and bleeding badly. Having been a good Boy Scout he put a tourniquet on the man's wound, and saved his life.
I don't really know how heroic this actually was - but as a little guy I couldn't help but think of him as such after that time.
The Kyle Family also sold gas at their garage. They had their pumps wrecked so many times that they actually put up concrete pillars at either side of the pumps to keep them safe. I assume that it worked for them.
I also assume that it was also to the detriment of careless drivers.
In the case of the above photo I do believe that a truck caused this accident. What we see is the truck trailer pushed up against what looks to be a rather new car and Kyle's building.
Today Kyle's old building is the home of Vermilion's Municipal Court.
AMAZING: This pic of a frozen Niagara Falls taken in 1911 has previously appeared in "Views", and has also been widely circulated about the net for several months. Essentially it is self-explanatory. But methinks that my friend, Jim Fischer, kicked up some additional information about it that I believe makes the pic all the more amazing. Jim e-mailed me the following:
Rich, This is from a friend who is from upstate NY and thought you would find it interesting. Jim From: Bob Lindsay To: jim Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:21 PM Subject: RE: Niagara Falls in 1911 With respect to this, keep in mind that this was BEFORE they had the capability to control the amount of water that went OVER the Falls!! Today they have control dams in the Niagara River to divert and limit water flow over the Falls and, in fact, I seem to recall that the flow during the day is only 25% capacity and they reduce it even more than that at night after they turn the lights on the fall off...then they divert the majority of the river through the various hydro-electric generation plants along the gorge. Taking these facts into consideration, the frozen falls is even MORE impressive than it would be TODAY, as at the time this photo was taken, 100% of the Niagara River's flow was going over the falls... Bob
From: Bob Lindsay To: jim Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:21 PM Subject: RE: Niagara Falls in 1911
With respect to this, keep in mind that this was BEFORE they had the capability to control the amount of water that went OVER the Falls!! Today they have control dams in the Niagara River to divert and limit water flow over the Falls and, in fact, I seem to recall that the flow during the day is only 25% capacity and they reduce it even more than that at night after they turn the lights on the fall off...then they divert the majority of the river through the various hydro-electric generation plants along the gorge. Taking these facts into consideration, the frozen falls is even MORE impressive than it would be TODAY, as at the time this photo was taken, 100% of the Niagara River's flow was going over the falls... Bob
How about them apples?
WHO THEY IS?: Wandering down Memory Lane (actually though the mountains of papers and books surrounding my desk) I came across this jewel. It's fron the February 4, 1947 issue of Vermilion High School's The Compass. It was their Valentine Issue. Can ye guess who these folks are?
1. This smiling Casanova is Chuck Smith.2.This blond cuties won a babydoll contest during Vermilion's Centennial. Her name is Carol (Trinter) Bechtel. 3. These pretty girls are sisters Marvalee and Pat Malcomson. 4. They called her, "A Junior with a model's figure and a model dispostion. She is Pat Wilkes. 5.A great basketball player; Merle Koppenhafer. 6. Apparently known for "his musical renditions of Chopin" his name? Dick Carter. 7. "The gal with the photogenic mind (also face)" is Pat Ruggles. 8. The tricycle Momma is Dot Greenawalt. and 9. The little fellow with the dog is Ronnie Coleman.
Neat, huh!
The Compass Advisor at this time was Sarah Welker. Just a week or so ago she sent me a card wondering if I had these old newspapers. I have, as is obvious, but a few. At one time she had them all. But when she moved from South Street School to the new highschool she left them in her desk and she thinks that the custodian (Chuck Barber) threw them out.
Too bad. These old journals were very well done.
CAPTAIN HORTON'S HOUSE: At work on creating a 3-fold brochure that could be used by folks to sight-see all (or most) of the old Lake Captains' homes in Vermilion I captured these shadows of Captain Horton's house on Ferry Street t'other day.
Margaret Wakefield Worcester e-mailed me a list of all the Captains' homes so I could photograph them. Along with her list is some great information pertaining to the styles of these houses. It's something I'm terribly interested in - but didn't expect to have - which leads me to an additonal idea.
I do believe it would be nice, as well as interesting, if a virtual Captain's walk around town were accomplished on-line. In short, I think it would be of interest for people to be able to access (at least the outside) of each of these homes on-line.
Tis another project I might busy myself with in coming days.
WHAT'S A FOOT: The next meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society will be held in the Community Room of Vermilion's Ritter Public Library on October 9th at 7 p.m. Michigan resident, Mr. Horton, will be the featured speaker. His parents and grandparent were involved in various aspects of Vermilion's past (i.e. sailing, and construction). And, of course, everyone is absolutely welcome to attend this meeting and to join this group.
Lifetime memberships are $100. Yearly memberships are $10 a person; $18.00 a couple; and $5 for a student.Our address is:
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: 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 28, September 30, 2006
© 2006 Rich Tarrant