IN THIS SPACE...: Had I been asked to make the final decision I would have nixed the idea of building another addition on Vermilion's Ritter Public Library. It's not because I don't like the facility or the folks involved in its operation. It's just a matter of economics in relation to necessity. I view the addition as being unnecessary.
But what do I know? I've been known to be wrong about many things during my lifetime. Aside from that - who cares what I think?
The new addition will be nice. It will be eco-friendly. And I'm fairly certain that it will be to the benefit of current and future generations of people when it is complete. But even without the addition the library is, beyond the shadow of any doubt, one of the best in Northern Ohio.
Ironically (or not), the background I opted to use for this webpage seven years ago is from the very spot where the new library addition is to be constructed. Once upon an old, old time it was the site of a large livery stable which was, later, razed to make way for Walker's garage.
This kinda' makes one wonder what that space is going to hold a hundred years from now.
This-ain't-the-Mediterrean-coast-ly,
Some would now disagree...
GOT MEAT: Several weeks back a pic of the interior of Mr. Krapp's market appeared in "Views". To reiterate - the shop was located on the east side of Grand Street several doors south of the railroad tracks. The following pic is another - taken at a different time:
Methinks it affords ye a some idea of how the products were presented to shoppers in that yesteryear (i.e. 101 years back). Some folks may be repulsed by the idea of walking into a market - that was, by the by, without any significant refrigeration - and seeing sides of beef, and chickens, ducks, turkeys, and geese (heads and feet included) sitting on the counter and / or hung from the ceiling.
Without going into graphic detail - the market in the midst of a summer heatwave must have been a real experience.
During my years as a guest in the Republic of South Viet Nam I had the privilege of a similar experience whilst visiting the open air markets in Saigon. After a time it didn't seem all that bad. And given all the allergies Americans seem to have (currently) it might be that all the safe-guards (i.e. all the additives and preservatives) we have for our foods - though it makes them a great deal more palatable - may not be as safe as we believe.
Times have most certainly changed.
Memorial Day c.1959
GREAT STUFF: During about middle the 20th century Vermilion was fortunate enough to be the home of several persons who were rather good amateur photographers. One of them was Roy Kneisel. Another was Albert Lingelbach. I knew for years that Mr. Lingelbach had taken a good many pix about town. But until just recently I had only seen, perhaps, four of them.
Last week Dana Buell Wheeler (an old school chum and family friend)contacted me and asked if I would be interested in seeing some of Albert's pix. I don't believe I need mention my reply.
This pic of a Memorial Day Parade in Vermilion, O. taken c.1959 as the parade passed Grand Street moving west on South Street is quite remarkable. I am mesmerized not only by the people in the pic but how the camera captured the background. The view is very clear but, at least initially, ambiguous.
How odd.
The policeman in the pic is Joe Mayer. The woman walking across the street in the background with the children is Vermilionite Jane Smith. Lee Kress is riding the bicycle. But the young woman riding with him is not the girl who became his wife. (I know her - but can't remember her name at this writing.) John Brunton is driving the lawn-mower, and I believe "Captain Larry" Dickerhoff is the youngster riding on the hood.
This pic is just "great stuff"!
Phoebe Goodell Judson
THE FRIENDS OF AUNT PHOEBE:
Phoebe Goodell Judson was born in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada in 1831. Her father, the Reverend Jotham Weeks Goodell was a Presbyterian minister. He migrated from Canada to Erie County, O. in 1837 and served as the second minister of the First Congregational Church in Florence Township, O. which had been organized as a Presbyterian church that same year. In 1843 he served as pastor of a Congregational Church in Medina, County O. And in December of 1843 he preached the dedication sermon for the First Congregational Church in Vermilion. He and his family remained in Vermilion until he moved west in the early 1850's. By that time his daughter Phoebe - who had come of age and received her education in Vermilion - had married a local boy named Holden Judson. And it was not until 1853 that she and her husband followed her father west in search of her "ideal home".
Her account of her life in Vermilion and her adventures on the Oregon Trail, and life in her frontier home(s) in Washington State can be found in her book "A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home" (University of Nebraska Press - Lincoln and London).
In later years her and her husband founded a town she named Lynden. And each year the "friends" (i.e. researchers, relatives and just plain "fans" of Phoebe Judson's book (life and accomplishments) gather to celebrate her life in places that she loved. She is now recognized by many as "Aunt" Phoebe in reference to a poem written by C.E. Cline - orginially published under the title "A Christmas Appreciation". The poem clearly indicates that she was widely known by the nickname "Aunt Phoebe" partially because of the number of foster children she and Holden raised through the years.
In a communique from my friend, Mary Michaelson (Assistant Curator for the Lynden, WA. Pioneer Museum)last week I learned that "The Friends of Aunt Phoebe" are planning to celebrate their 2010 reunion on the 4th of July weekend in Vermilion. They are requesting that our community join in this celebration and help them with some of the arrangements. It would be real nice if this could become a community wide activity. So stay tuned...
The Goodell-Judson family relationships reach back to the very beginnings of the place we call Vermilion, O. and include such familiar family names as Austin, Sturgis, Pelton, and Tuttle - to name a few.
TRAILER PARK RULES
1. No cars up on blocks for longer than three years.
2. No draining your oil onto the street.
3. No loud and wild parties without inviting the manager.
4. You may have no more than 3 beer can wind chimes each only having no more than 6 cans each.
5. Drunkenness will not be tolerated in the streets prior to 10 am.
6. While outside of your trailer you must be at least partially clothed.
7. If you prefer to clean your trailer in the nude, please close the curtains.
8. When bringing in the Jerry Springer or COPS film crews, please provide the management prior written notice so that certain residents may be forewarned.
9. Empty beer bottles should not be discarded on the front lawn. However, they may remain there until you are sober enough to collect them with the understanding you will collect them within 7 days whether sober or not.
10. When bringing dates home to your trailer, please be advised that in the event the sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced due to the weight of your date, you will be responsible for all costs incurred.
"It was 1917. Woodrow Wilson was President of these United States of America; Thomas R. Marshall was Vice-President...."
WHO SAYS THERE'S NO RELIEF FROM SOARING PRICES: It is truly hard not to smile when looking at the photo accompanying this composition. Not only has this type of water vehicle - at least for the most part - long ago been replaced by brightly colored inflatable dinghies made of UV-resistant PVC fabrics with polyester support, powered by a new generation of electric / gas motors; but seeing any number of adults taking a Sunday afternoon ride in a rowboat on Lake Erie dressed in anything but shorts, tee-shirts, and bathing suits today would be - to say the very least - unlikely. But go back nearly a century to the Vermilion, O. of yesteryear and it is exactly how some folks sought brief respite from the woes of the world that raged around them.
It was 1917. Woodrow Wilson was President of these United States of America; Thomas R. Marshall was Vice-President. The nation boasted a population of 101,961,000 souls [compared to 303,409,069 today]. The Boston Red Sox defeated Brooklyn (4-1) to win the World Series of Baseball. In Hollywood Charlie Chaplin signed a contract with Mutual Studios that would earn him an unprecedented $10,000 a week salary. An unkempt fellow named Einstein completed a mathematical formulation of a general theory of relativity, which included gravity that, even today, few folks understand. And although actively involved in “the war to end all wars” in Europe the U.S. government managed to keep a balanced budget. It took in approximately $761 million and spent spent roughly $713 million.
Well, aside from the war, the world about folks in the Village of Vermilion wasn’t perhaps “raging”. Mayor H.R. “Squire” Williams was publicly pressing the Ohio State Board of Health to file an official report of their investigation as to the source of a recent outbreak of typhoid in town. And there was some “woe” about the village. Mrs. Kuehlman the wife of Charles, a well known and respected Furnace Corners (the northwest corner of Darrow and State Roads) farmer died unexpectedly one early Saturday morning (8-20-1916). Two young Elyria fellows - one of which had taken up employment at the Linwood Hotel - got caught with their hands in the proverbial, and perhaps literal, “cookie jar” and were charged with grand larceny. And a fellow who had “drifted into town” earlier in the year suffering with a disease brought on by imbibing too much, and too often, died a less than handsome death in the town lockup one Tuesday evening (8-22-16) during one of the heaviest thunderstorms of the season.
But of course there were a few more things that might have caused some distress among the townsfolk of those times. For instance In one year the “costs of the necessities of life” had steadily increased: Butter had jumped from 30c. to 33c; Eggs from 23c. to 32c; Sirloin Steak 22c. to 25c; Pork Chops 18c. to 24c; Spring Chicken 22c. to 30c; Mutton 25c. to 28c; Sugar, 25lb. $1.63 to $2.00; and Flour, by the sack had soared from $1.65 to a whopping $1.95. Where, some folks may have asked of themselves was it all going to end?
But like Mr. Einstein’s theory most everything is “relative”: It all depends on one’s point-of-view. So when the headline of the local newspaper proclaimed that there is “No Relief From Soaring Prices” more than a few of the townsfolk probably nodded their heads in agreement. But a day or two later after renting a rowboat from Cloudy Noel to spend an afternoon on the lake all was forgot. After all, who said there was no relief from soaring prices; or from everything else as well? Certainly not the folks in this photograph.
Ref: The Vermilion News, 8-24-16; Vermilion Area Archival Society, Pearl Roscoe Photo Collection.
2/10/08
1:02 PM
I'm glad Jake's furnace was working.
LOCALS - 1898: Newspaper "locals" as my family called them for The Vermilion News were, and remain, perhaps the most interesting items ever written for any publication. I (personally) abhor lengthy essays about political activities. I don't really care how politicians interact. I simply want to know either what they've done, or what they intend to do. I don't care about their personal relationships. So...
I enjoy the "locals". I like knowing that C.C. Baumhart was selling show cases, a safe, and counters "cheap", and that Mrs. Tilden was "on the sick list" way back in 1898. These were the folks who helped make Vermilion Vermilion. And nobody cares who they liked or didn't like. It was just "about people and things" that put a smile on your face.
DON'T JUST SIT THERE WITH A MOUSE IN YOUR HAND! HELP THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY!: Take a cyber visit through my on-line store.
I will be working on designing some new things in the weeks ahead. However: If you've not purchased something yet you're missing both the proverbial and literal boat. But, if nothing else, take a stroll through my shop. I keep the floor swept, the windows clean, and my dog don't bite.
And for those who might wonder - this is my shop - and I do make a few bucks selling the items therein...
VERMILION VIEWS GIFT SHOP
Podcasts - "forever under construction..."
PODCAST #121: This week Vermilion Views Podcast #121 takes ye for a tour of Put-In-Bay during winter. This short video is sandwiched between a brief advertisement for "tyres" and a short about a dog and his cat. Special thanks to Dan Buell Wheeler for the link where I found the "Bay" video.
Also note that all the video (MP4) podcasts (where used) are done in the "Quicktime MP4" format.
NOTE NOTE:Past podcasts are not 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 me and I will place it on a disc and send it to ye for a minimal fee.
LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: After giving it much thought this link has been "put-down". During the last year most of the folks who used to use this page as a bulletin board have acquired their own and, consequently, no longer need this forum from "Views". I have, however, kept links (in the links section) to Larry Hohler's "Hope Homes" in Kenya - and to Bette Lou Higgins' Eden Valley Enterprises sites. They are historically and socially relevant projects.
Pay particular note to the "Hope Homes" page during the next few months. They've recently received a significant grant from the Dolan Foundation and are constructing a Manual Training Center for their children and for other young people in that community. This is an exciting project.
Vermilion High School Classes of 1963, 1964 and 1965 may be interested in knowing that a reunion is planned for the weekend of June 27, 2009. Those interested can contact Ruth Bauman Tanner.
The Vermilion High School Class of 1959 may be interested in knowing that a reunion is planned for the weekend of September 18-20, 2009. Registration can be made through Roger Boughton 2205 SW 10th Ave. Austin, MN. 55912 or you can just emailRoger.
Where's Alice? I found this link interesting. You just never know what Vermilion expatriots are up to - or where their up to doing it. Alice Wakefield is one of those people. So check out his link. Methinks you'll be surprised: Talking Turkey.
Memories are made of this...
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 links. 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.
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.
How the old links menu looked
For Persons who would like to donate to the cause (to keep these "Views" on-line you can send whatever you would like to me at the following address. And THANKS to everybody who has already donated to the cause. I doth certainly appreciate it):
Rich Tarrant
1041 Oakwood Drive
Vermilion, Ohio
44089
Telephone: 440-967-0988 - Cell: 440-522-4459
or you can use PayPal:
"Have politicos never read the tragedies of the kings?"
-Professor Roselyn Picher
Vol.7, Issue 2, March 28, 2009
Archive Issue #315
© 2009 Rich Tarrant