OLD HAUNTS & ROTARY PRESIDENTS : Today it's "Rudy's Bar and Grill". In years past it was "The Liberty Tavern"; "Bunny Baker's"; "Maggie's"; and "Stan's". It's always been a very popular tavern in Vermilion, O. And though few folks know it - it's probably one of the older buildings in the community.
Long before it was a tavern it was (I believe) Dr. Bond's office, and it was located in what is today Vermilion's beautiful Exchange / "Rubberneck" Park. I don't know whether it was moved to make way for the park or if Doc Bond just wanted to move it to the property where it currently rests. There are some pix of it at the original location.
And speaking of old haunts...
Jim Trinter who owns and operates Martinos's International Cafe" in Vermilion emailed me last night to ask if I had a picture of his restaurant when it was "Ellie's" restaurant. Those unfamiliar with Martinos would most likely remember it as the Lake Erie Drive-In.
I don't have such a photograph.
However; if someone happens to have a photo of the place when it was "Ellie's" Jim would certainly like to have a copy of it by Monday. (He didn't give a reason for the deadline.)
And whilst I'm making this request I need also send out a request from Vermilionite Bob Kyle who is looking to contact any relatives of persons who once served as a President of Vermilion's Rotary Club.
Bob is apparently working on a history of the club and is, consequently, looking for some good first-hand information on all those folks.
In either case - you can email me if you've a pic of "Ellie's" and / or info on past Rotarians and I'll put you into contact with the appropriate people.
Have a wonderful week...
Midget City
Mitiwanga, O.
ALWAYS SURPRISES: Okay - probably four million people knew about the "Midget City" in Mitiwanga, Ohio before I did. I saw nothing nor heard anything about this anomaly until about a month ago when Pam Seymour loaned me some of her postcard collection of the area so that I might scan a few cards.
The scan seen above doesn't really do justice to the reality of the miniature city. Unfortunately the postcard photographs didn't scan that well - so I used the hand-tinted piece you see. But the work was astoundingly good.
From what I can piece together it was quite a popular attraction. But the really odd thing about it is that although the carpenter / creator / designer is pictured on some of the postcards - his name is never provided.
Perhaps there is a "Viewer" who knows the identity of the fellow.
When I investigated the subject on the net I found that there were several of these "Midget Cities" in the area - and the nation. But, again, I don't believe any names were mentioned.
It would be fun to discover the who's, what's, when's, and where's (and what eventually happened) about this particular project. While it is obvious that it was kept behind the Patio Bar at Mitiwanga - that's not much.
I would really like to see someone (or group of someone's) build a similiar project using Vermilion, O. (c.1900) as a model. I believe it would be of great interest to many persons - tourists and citizens alike.
Cool beans!
"She was, for the lack of a better job description,
a Business Education Teacher..."
HOW A TEACHER SAVED MY LIFE:Last week I received a letter from a former school teacher of mine. Note that some people do still write letters. They don’t e-mail nor text message. They just pick up a pen or sit down with a typewriter and write. This message was typewritten - which - as you will see - is a very fit way for her to communicate..
The teacher is Sarah Welker (pictured). She was, for the lack of a better job description, a Business Education Teacher at Vermilion High School for at least 30 years. She instructed young people in business arts such as shorthand (I don’t know if that is still used today), journalism, and, of course, typing. She also worked as a freelance journalist. Much of her work appeared in local dailies..
But back to the letter. She shared some interesting memories that apparently surfaced when she read the LSE Car #174 piece (PJ 7-05-07) which appeared in this column several weeks ago:.
“...I was glad to know what happened to the Lake Shore Electric Car 174. I am so glad it came to a happy ending, for I rode it many times back in the years I was going to Sandusky High (1929-30). It was one of the better cars and made the “Limited” run between Cleveland and Toledo...” .
These are great remembrances; the kind that give color to what can ofttimes be a rather dull / black-and-white history. And for her contributions to that cause I am extremely grateful. But I must also thank Mrs. Welker for one other thing. That “thing” is my life..
I am among a minority (8-15%) of people who is left-handed. Partially due to this impairment I have always found cursive handwriting (if it was to be legible) to be both slow and painful. To alleviate this problem when I entered high school I enrolled in one of Mrs. Welker’s typing classes. And therein did I learn, not only how to type, but how to type fast and accurately. These were, by the way, acoustic (non-electric) typewriters. And please understand that my intent was purely selfish. I had no professional goals or use in mind for acquiring this skill..
In 1965 I was drafted into the service of the U.S. Army. After receiving Basic Training I was further trained to be a clerk-typist. Soon after I was transported by jet to the Republic of South Vietnam for duty. Thus far, everything was fine and dandy. It was not until after the plane landed myself along with 249 other clerk-typists that it was discovered that the U.S. Army had made a mistake..
The Army had not wanted 250 clerk-typists. They wanted teletype operators. So what to do? They began to reassign and retrain everyone..
And this is how Sarah Welker saved my life: Of the 250 clerk-typists who were mistakenly deployed to the war arena I was the most competent. Ergo the Army Headquarters Group that was on the receiving end of this mistake immediately removed me from the crowd to use me as their “Classified Document Specialist”. More than a few of my friends whose misfortune it was to be less adept with a typewriter soon found themselves carrying a rifle. And far more importantly, some of them had the further misfortune of returning home wounded. While still others never came home at all..
So last week Mrs. Welker typed me a letter that, in part, tossed me a bouquet for writing this column. What she didn’t know was that Yesteryear might never have been writ at all were it not for her teaching me not only to tap the right keys, but to do it with a great deal of proficiency.
Published in the Vermilion (Ohio) Photojournal on 8-16-07. Soon after this essay was published Sarah passed into the hands of God. Her daughter told me that she had a copy of this article on the stand next to her bed when she died. I'm glad I had the opportunity to tell her the story.
8/12/07
9:56 AM
"Maria or Mariah?."
ANNA:
September 19, 1865 -
One year ago I reached Vermillion (sic) but would hardly know the place. I was glad enough to find myself and children and baggage here all safe. I hope I shall be more contented for the next year to come than I have for the past year.
That is the final entry in the diary writ by Anna Maria Pelton-Goodell who left Vermilion on Tuesday morning, April 18, 1854 “at 20 minutes past nine for Oregon” with little expectation of ever returning.
Anna left Vermilion in the company of her husband, William Bird Goodell, and their month old son, Fredrick. With them came their brother-in-law’s family, Mr. and Mrs. C.A. Judson, their adult daughter, Lucretia, and Anna’s lifelong friend, and cousin, Miss Elizabeth “Libbie” Austin. They were headed west to join William’s parents, Jotham and Anna Goodell, and the Judson’s son and wife, and Holden and Phoebe Goodell-Judson, who had settled there just a few years earlier.
From Vermilion they travelled to Sandusky. Once there they went by water to Detroit, then Chicago, and beyond, arriving at the head of the Mormon Trail in Council Bluffs, Iowa in mid-May. Their journey across the continent was not unremarkable, and is deserving of more attention than can be given in this forum. A poignant example of that experience appears in Anna’s diary entry of August 22, 1854 where she describes another party being attacked by Indians in the Utah Territory:
...two men were shot from their horses and another very badly wounded. They shot two Indians and lost 5 horses. We traveled about 12 miles and camped on Boise River. The man who was wounded died about 12 o’clock. I am 23 years old today.
Finally, in early October they reached the home of William’s parents in Grand Mound Prairie (WA). Here Anna reflected “Oh how glad I was to sit at a table and eat like folks and to sleep in a house and on a bedstead.”
This was not, however, to be the end of her journey.
Nine years and two children (Walter and Charlotte/Lottie) later found the family in Port Angeles, WA. William was a sailor by vocation. Due to that fact he was often absent for months at a time. It was not a circumstance that either parent particularly enjoyed. So when offered a position as a inspector at the customs house in Port Angeles William jumped at the chance. Anna was thrilled. "My whole soul seemed to be wraped (sic) up in the one thought of his being with us." she would later recall.
Anna, William and their children moved into their new home at the foot of the Cascade Mountains on December 5, 1863. Eleven days later, after spending some time with his daughter Lottie and her puppy, he took some supper, put on his cloak (because his coat was damp), and returned to the customs house. No less than 30 minutes later his life was ended.
Late rains and melting snow and ice in the mountains avalanched into the lakes in the foothills above the town. They overflowed and rushed into a gorge carrying everything in the waters path before them. The two-story customs house was a formidable structure. But in the path of the rushing mountain flood waters it didn’t stand a chance.
Anna Maria Pelton-Goodell and her children returned to Vermilion via ship, probably crossing the Isthmus of Panama by train instead of passing “The Horn”,and landed in New York on September 18, 1865 by steamer. Thereafter she spent her days cheerfully caring for her children, her parents, Sylvester and Eunice Sturges-Pelton, her grandmother, and her ailing brother. She and her daughter, Lottie, also tended to the operation of their Boarding House on Huron Street (now the home of Jim and Cathy Weber). She died in Lorain on October 29, 1902 at the age of 71 years, her journey begun once again.
Ref: The Vermilion News; 11-6-1902; Vermilion Area Archival Society; Special Thanks to WA historians Mary Michaelson and Karen Parsons; and Margene Goodell, Amherst, OH
9/25/05
11:33 AM
DON'T JUST SIT THERE WITH A MOUSE IN YOUR HAND - BUY SOMETHING:
Take a cyber visit through my on-line store.
This enterprise is new to me so I don't know what to expect in the way of response - but it is actually very nice. Over the next weeks and months I will be adding (and deleting) different items with different pix that folks might like to use for gifts or just have for themselves.
So take a tour of the shop. Tell me how you like it and what you might like to see on some items. I'm always open for business and for reasonable requests and suggestions. If nothing else just do a little window shopping. It's fun!
VERMILION VIEWS GIFT SHOP
Also note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (where used) are done in the "Quicktime" format.
Stay with me on this project. Things will get better. (I pro-mize.)
NOTE NOTE:Past podcasts are no longer available in the on-line archive. They just take up too much disk space. But if one really, really, really wants to acquire a copy of a past cast it can be had by contacting moi - and I will place it on a disc and send it to ye for a minimal fee.
Incidentally, "Viewer" Larry Hohler who is a big part of the Hope Home in Kenya wants folks to know that the children they are assisting are safe - midst the turmoil raging around them in that country. Methinks all "Viewers" should take a good look (go to the links section of "Views" for a virtual tour) at how the project really, really helps underprivileged children in this 3rd world nation. It is sincerely a worthwhile effort. And if ye can spare a few bucks it can certainly go a long way.
If you're looking for my old links section (pictured) I've replaced it with a pull-down menu (visible in the small box next to the word "Go"). If you're looking for links to more Vermilion history check that menu.