IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY : Well, it wasn't really yesterday. But don't despair. Days like this will come again. One of the great things about photographs is that they can (if only for a second or three) help thee forget about the moment and recall, if not better, at least nicer days.
While I don't mind winter - the cold and snow - all that much, after a time snow covering (as scenery) quickly becomes redundant.
Vermilion, Ohio, and the region surrounding us did get pummeled a bit during the week by old man winter - but it's been quite a long time since we've experienced weather nearly as severe as this. Moreover; we have experienced worse storms.
These are summer shadows captured along the Vermilion River late last June/July of 2006 - and there is a reason for them. The dusty trail that runs parallel to the lagoon in Romp's Marina traces the course where once the tracks of the Lake Shore Electric Interurban Railway ran through the swamp to all points east. The pretty cruiser in the foreground, docked along the bank, rests against all that is left of the old LSE bridge abutment on that side of the stream.
None of this, of course, was just yesterday. But sometimes - just sometimes - if you close your eyes...
MRS. BURDUE'S CLASS: Last week Vermlionite Barbara Hayes Ruggles was kind enough to allow me to copy a number of her family photographs, and this is one.
The teacher, Mrs. Burdue, had long ago been relegated to the very recesses of my closet of memories - nearly to extinction - until I saw this pic. And then I remembered her.
I can't name all the children. Barb knows who most are. She pointed them out to me but I didn't write them down. So I'm at a loss (at the moment) to identify most of them.
Barb, however, is the 4th (girl) from the left - standing in the back row. The girl next to her (on our right) is Judy Creel. In the middle row the third boy from the left is my childhood buddy and neighbor Tom Boone. And the second to the last child (a boy) to our right in that same row is a Haber boy. I can't, off-hand, remember his first name at this writing. The little girl on the far left of the very front row is, I think, Judy Fischer.
Another Vermilionite, Larry Howell, told me that when he was in Mrs. Burdue's class (a few years earlier than this pic) she "smacked his hand with a ruler". I assume, from that, that the implication was that the teacher was not a very nice person. But that I don't really know. (I suspect that Larry may have been talking when he should have been listening.)
This is just a great, great photo taken in front of our dear South Street School in 1950 by local photog Paul Ludlow.
THE GOC REMEMBERED: I took this pic a few years back for reasons unknown - but I'm happy I did. The structure in the background some may remember as having been used as combination refreshment stand (at the bottom) and an announcer's booth (at the top) for football games when Vermilion's High School was located on Decatur Street. The tower overlooked the school's football field and track. Today the field is used as a recreation area for the Vermilion Intermediate School, and both the tower and the large oak next to it are gone.
The reason this particular building is of interest (at least to myself) surrounds the fact that it was built to be used by something called the Ground Observer's Corps (GOC).
The GOC was created back in the 1950's during the "Cold War" to help guard our nation "against enemy planes that may sneak under our radar defenses. It was not, as seen in this pic, an enclosed tower. It was just an open windowed observation deck with a roof supported by stilt-like beams. In the observation room there was a telephone that could be used to report any suspicious looking aircraft flying over Vermilion. It was a single line directly connected to whomever it was that was worried about such things (?). The tower was also equipped with posters of silhouetted enemy aircraft types.
And if you're 10 or 12 years old this is fun just waiting to happen. Rest assured that I, along with my friends, spent some time there.
Some of the spotters back in the '50's were Dave Hurd (1000 hours); Gail Lyon and Steve Bowen (500 hours); Wayne Cassidy, John Hurd, Howard "Howie" Bogart, Allen "Pete" Neiding, Martha Wade, Clarence "Darrel" Ollis, Ginny Osberg, Jack Vasbinder, Gene Zess, and John Long (36 hours). Recruited to work in 1957 were Captain and Mrs. Robert Parsons, Grace and Al Ming, and Doris Feiszli.
I know all this is a tad hard to believe. But it was both serious and true - the G.O.C. I doubt that many folks ever really understood what this tower was originally about or they might not have torn it down so readily.
C'est la Vie; C'est la Vie indeed.
THE WATERTOWER 1944: There's nothing terribly unusual about this particular snapshot except that it's very nearly 63 years old. It was taken in March of 1944, and developed on the 23 of April the same year. The pic was acquired from me pal, Vermilionite, Fred Wetzler, and its actual size is 1" x 1.5".
What is barely visible at the foot of the tower is a fellow named Hallie Cruthers (sp). Hallie, in my memory, was a friend of both my older brothers, Bill and Phil. My memories of him are extremely dim. So this pic doesn't really help jog it.
Tis just a name some might recall and another photo that isn't lost or tossed. It may not seem to be very important - but it is. Each pic adds another demension to the history of our pretty city.
THE EAST BREAKWALL: I've not seen this particular view of the eastern breakwall along the Vermilion River prior to this time. I've a few others that show it as a new structure. I'm guessing, but this photo may predate the ones to which I refer. For it looks as though the breakwall doesn't extend as far into shore as the existing structure. Thus, I'm assuming that it was, sometime after this pic, rebuilt.
I am fairly certain that this predates any major development(s) in what became the Vermilion Lagoons. That assumption is based on the simple caption that attends this card. For it describes the scene as being the "lakefront" of Linwood Park. Ergo' we're probably looking at the lakefront c. 1915.
A nice pic sent to me by Vermilion expatriot "Buffalo" Bill Hlavin.
ROOTS/ROUTES: T'ain't a negative thing. Roots/Routes that is. If you're looking at, or for, your family roots you will be glad if there are some route/markers along the trail for you to discover and follow. That's not always the case.
I count myself among the more fortunate ones because both my paternal and maternal ancestors left a trail behind them. Bessie (Elizabeth) Bottomley Roscoe (pictured at 13) is my grandmother. She was born about 1877 in Minnesota, and was the eldest child, and daughter, of Clarissa and Ernest T. Bottomley. Her mother, Clarissa, was a native of Minnesotan, and her father Ernest was an English immigrant.
There were 4 other children in the family; Lee E., Thomas H., Ethel E., and Clara.
Sometime around the turn of the 20th century the family migrated east (That's a fact I find to be an odd turn of affairs. Most folks migrated West.) to Milan, Ohio where her father kept a grocery store. Later the family moved to Vermilion. They lived on Exchange Street in the second home just south of what was then the towns only fire station (today VFD Station #1).
It is extremely likely that when the family lived in Milan that my grandmother met my grandfather, Pearl, and married him. Together they worked for printshops and newspapers in Oberlin and Lorain until they finally purchased a weekly in Vermilion, Ohio (i.e. The Vermilion News).
At the moment I know not the reason the entire family eventually moved to Vermilion. That is yet to be discovered. But I'm sure that if I look I'll find the answer to that question.
It's neat stuff - this ancestry business. I do hope that yours left routes to their roots for you to also discover.
PODCAST #11: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #11 allows listeners an ability to see Vermilion's history through the eyes of 93 year old Vermilionite Henry "Hank" Fischer.
I did actually manage to get all of Hanks talk recorded, but at the moment it's technically impossible for me to share the entire session with "Viewers" in one fell swoop. But there's enough here to catch your attention and tickle your funny bone(s).
There is also a digital recording of one number by the Vermilion High School's Marching Band of 1958-59.
This is great stuff. I hope you can appreciate and enjoy it.
HAVE YE QUESTIONS (?): I've not yet acquired an answer to Bob Williams' question about the colors for the Vermilion School system. But I will. It just taking me long than I prefer to get the answer to Bob's question.
Excercise some patience, and I will have the answer very soon.
Trust me!
WHAT'S A FOOT: The next meeting of the Vermilion Area Archival Society will be held at the Community Room of the Ritter Public Library this Monday (March 12, 2007) at 7 pm. This program will feature the Mitawanga memories of Sarah and Harold Welker. Most folks who attended Vermilion's Schools know the Welker's quite well. They are an astounding couple. We hope to see ye all there.
Everyone is absolutely welcome to attend these meetings and/or to become a member of the VAAS.
Lifetime memberships are $100. Yearly memberships are $10 a person; $18.00 a couple; and $5 for a student.Our address is:
And I keep on forgetting to mention the projects of my friend Bette Lou Higgins, Artistic Director, of Eden Valley Enterprises. For those unfamiliar with her work - they stage historical people/events from (and) around the State of Ohio.
A great deal of research and practice goes into these productions to make them as accurate as possible.
I will be placing some of the new dates here this week. So stay tuned.
The Cleveland Baseball Heritage Museum in the Colonial Arcade, 530 Euclid Ave. will open the 2007 baseball season with several special events including a performance of YOU CAN'T PLAY BALL IN A SKIRT! On March 24, Susan Brewer will portray Ohio's Baseball Wonder, Dr. Alta Weiss who put herself through medical school playing professional baseball on a MEN'S team in the early 1900s. This program will also be featured at the Ashland Chautauqua, June 25-30. The Chautauqua is sponsored by the Ashland Community Arts Center and this year's theme is "Sport and Society." For complete information on all of the events (which are FREE and open to the public), call 419-281-9836 or e-mail: Ashland Arts Center
To arrange for this or any of their programs for your group, contact Eden Valley directly with your request (and/or to view a complete schedule of Eden Valley Events) visit their web page at www.edenvalleyenterprises.org.
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.
Larry, his wife Yvette, and his mother stopped by to visit me for a few minutes in the kitchen of the Congregational Church (where I work) just a week or so ago. He read me a letter from Kenya pertaining to the Hope project - and everything seems to be going well (at the moment). However; I need to strongly reiterate the fact that this is an on-going project. The need is forever continuing. Please keep that in mind.
In relation to Larry's work with the Hope Children's Home I have received some very interesting biographies of some of the children who have come to benefit by participating in this project. I'd like to share one of them with you each week. The following is #15:
CLASS REUNION UPDATES:This from Shirley Williams Gleason: The CLASS of '58 is planning on hosting the reunion on the weekend of July 17, 18, 19, 2008....The Committee will be sending out information this spring in regard to the plans.
The VHS Class of 1957 are planning their Class Reunion for September 15, 2007. They cannot find addresses for the following classmates: William A. Brown, Carol L. Burkle, Eddie L. Davis, Robert W. DeLong, Jim B. Henry, Alexander J. Lutz, or Neil M. Marcussen. If anyone has that information please forward it to
Bob Ferry, is heading up the VHS Class Reunion for 1987...20 years. Bob Ferry, is heading up the VHS Class Reunion for 1987...20 years. Hither is their website: Class of 1987
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. And, incidently, I received the following communique from Roger this recently. It said in part:
JUST A REMINDER: You'll also want to place on your calendar the dates for our reunion in 2009. It will be held the weekend of September 18-20, 2009. It seems like a long way off but you'll find it will be here sooner than you anticipated.
I want to interject here that for some reason I am unable to fathom I can't communicate with Roger via e-mail. I believe it has something to do with his software or that of his ISP. I any "Viewer" is in touch with him let him know that I've been trying to contact him without success.
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
For Persons who would like to contribute to the cause (to keep these "Views" on-line you can send whatever you would like to me at the following address or use PayPal(It's fast, free, easy, and secure):
Vol.4, Issue 48, February 17, 2007
© 2007 Rich Tarrant