_{A SCOTT DOMMIN PORTRAIT}

SIGHTS AND SEARCH ENGINES: This week the lead photo is an adaptation of one taken by a Vermilion expatriate named Scott Dommin. A few of Scott's pix have appeared in past editions of "VV". And, to be very candid, I admire Scott's work. It's really "nice stuff". Some people, like Scott, are just naturally talented photographers.

Scott has a web site that (at least the last time I looked) featured some of the old Kishman tugs like the one above. Hopefully you can find it by Clicking Here.

This week you may note that "VV" has a new Search Engine powered by Google. I’ve tried it out and it works nicely. But (ain’t there always one of those?) - there may some advertisements with the results. However; they’re no more intrusive than they would be when one uses the regular Google search engine.

Basically, it’s something I stumbled across during the week; found interesting; and decided to try. There was nothing wrong with the former “VV” search engine. It was adequate. But it was something I was paying for because I decided a year or so back that “Views” needed a search engine (At least I needed it for myself) and the Google engine is freeware. In short, the price is right. I'm not certain, but I don’t think that Google had the service available for individual webpages when I was originally looking for it. It is certainly fast.

And the single drawback now (at least for me) is that none of the old search engine forms on archived pages are going to work. In time I will go through those pages and delete those old forms. But the task is formidable. And the reward from a pseudo-positive view that I am forcing myself to embrace is, of course, in the accomplishment of it.

For some reason this reminds me of a cartoon I saw last week. There is a dog standing on a corner with a sign which reads, “Will eat homework for food.”

Searchingly...

Alice and Maryann c.1950

SOUTH STREET PLAYGROUND: This is one of the very many photographs in the Thompson-Nichols Family collection. The snap was taken on the playground at Vermilion's South Street School c.1950.

The little girl on the left is Alice May Thompson. The girl to the right may have been her sister, Maryann. But the snapshot does not make that identification easy. So that's not a definite.

This pic was taken before the new cafeteria was added to the back (the south end of the building). The wing of the building in the background was, at that time, the "shop" for teaching young people some building / mechanical skills. The "monkey bar" set (also in the in the background) was still on the playground the last time I looked. And the teeter-totter set that the girls are on may also still be there. Although the boards on which they are seated are probably long, long gone.

Alice May Thompson was a pretty little girl who, as she grew older, plainly suffered with some developmental disabilities. Eventually she went to live in a special home in Gallopolis, Ohio. Today the situation would have been managed differently - and she very likely would have remained with her family.

We have certainly come a long, long way in working with disabled adults and children since the 1950's.

_{"Just before things changed - again..."}

VERMILION 1936: Another wonderful aerial view of Vermilion, O. The Vermilion Lagoons subdivision was young. So very few houses had been built as of yet. The Vermilion (ball-shaped) water-tower had not yet been built. The Lake Shore Electric Bridge still spanned the Vermilion River. Fish houses lined the riverbank. The Kroger Store (now the Buyer's Fair) had not yet been built. F.W. Wakefield's "Harborview" home was still a home. The jetty from Main Street Beach (which is now less visible) was very visible. And the land surrounding the village were pristine farmlands.

Take your time with this pic. It deserves some study.

_{"Chips, to the constant chagrin of our mother, was not a stay-at-home dog."}

A DOG'S LIFE IN VERMILION VILLAGE: The accompanying photograph [Note: This article refers to a picture that does not appear with the re-telling of this story. But the wording remains the same to maintain the integrity of the original piece.] is rather unremarkable as a photo composition. And much of that which appears in it has been written about, and/or has previously appeared, in this forum. But that is not the gist - the substance nor intent - of this essay. This piece is not about Mamouru Okagi’s wonderful restaurant, Leidheiser’s Grocery store next door (that featured the popular Tellings Ice Cream made in Belle Vernon, Ohio), nor Ray Leidheiser’s place next to it. It concerns the pooch who probably ruined the photo when he crossed in front of P. Roscoe’s graphflex camera as he followed his nose down Liberty Street to (where?) heaven only knows.

Once upon a time Vermilion was like that. Dogs (and to be fair, some cats) appear in many an old photograph taken around Vermilion Village. More often than not they, like the one in Roscoe’s photo, were not there by invitation. And again, as in Roscoe’s photo, they just happened to be passing by when someone was taking a picture. But it was not uncommon to meet your neighbor’s dog walking along the street unattended. And just as everyone in the village knew whose children belonged to who - they also knew everyone’s dog (or cat) by name.

Our family had a feisty black-white-and-tan fox terrier named Mr. Chips who was as well known by folks in the village as was, perhaps, the Chief of Police, Ed Benson. In fact, they were rather well acquainted.

Chips, to the constant chagrin of our mother, was not a stay-at-home dog. Confinement to the house was nigh on to impossible, and chaining/tying him up in the yard was worse. This dog was as close to being the definition of a free spirit as any person or animal I have ever encountered. He was not mean nor vicious. He was just, as mentioned, a “free spirit”.

Every morning he arose, left our home on Perry Street, and went to Dale Rodgers’ house on the southwest corner of Grand and Ohio Streets. He would visit with Mrs. Rodgers for a few hours, have a midmorning snack, and then leave and cross the street to Cort and Myrt Simons home on the southeast corner of the aforementioned streets. There he would visit til lunch was served and afterwards head on downtown.

In the business district he was a backdoor visitor. His first stop was at the backdoor of the Okagi Restaurant where his friends would provide him with some scraps leftover from lunch. Then he would saunter over to the backdoor kitchen of the Duperow Restaurant to visit with Norm, the cook-owner of the eatery, for another pick-me-up. After that it was siesta time. And there was no better place to take a summer afternoon snooze than in the verdurous shade of the trees in Exchange/Rubberneck Park.

At that time the Vermilion Police Department kept a very small office in a booth-type structure in the same park. (Note: that building apparently still exists, and is located at one of Vermilion’s athletic fields.) Consequently, the police parked their cars on Liberty Avenue beside the park. During the heat of the summer months the windows of their cars were always rolled down. But I digress.

After the free-spirited terrier woke from his nap he’d have a good stretch, saunter over to Chief Benson’s police cruiser, jump through the window onto the the passenger seat, and wait. When the Chief came back to the car, he’d pat the dog on the head, and deposit him back to our home on Perry Street.

So it’s really no big surprise that a dog following his nose down Liberty Avenue should have happened by just as Roscoe was trying to take a nice photograph with his graphflex. He, like Mr. Chips, was obviously on a mission of dire importance. Somewhere in that yesteryear someone was expecting him.

_{Written on 6/24/07 @ 11:37 a.m. Published in the Vermilion Photojournal 6/28/07.}

REAL SIGNS IN SHOP WINDOWS

Signs In a clothing store: "Wonderful bargains for men with 16 and 17 necks."

In the window of an Oregon general store: "Why go elsewhere to be cheated, when you can come here?"

In a Pennsylvania cemetery: "Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves."

On a Tennessee highway: "Take notice: when this sign is under water, this road is impassable."

From the safety information card in America WestAirline seat pocket: "If you are sitting in an exit row and can not read this card, please tell a crew member."

On a Maine shop: "Our motto is to give our customers the lowest possible prices and workmanship."

On a delicatessen wall: "Our best is none too good."

_{"...it may have been just a weary traveler of yesteryear passing through the little town of Vermilion, O. on his way to Utopia."}

THE ROAD TO UTOPIA: The great American poet Walt Whitman (1819 -1892) once wrote, “ Do I contradict myself?/Very well then I contradict myself...” Thus, when one observes that were nothing writ about the accompanying snapshot enough would have been said about it; yet also discerns, that there is very much to be said of it - it is certainly a contradiction. But it really can’t be helped. Because this unprofessional, badly focused, picture of life in the Village of Vermilion, Ohio c.1946 is absolutely and unconditionally, wonderful. These shadows portray a busy Liberty Avenue looking to the north and east between Grand (to the west) and Division / Main (to the east) Streets.

The snapshoot was likely taken from the steps of The News Gift Shop. Neither that shop nor the building in which it was once housed exist any longer. The empty space between the two parked cars in the foreground was the “No Parking” zone in front of the Liberty Theater (now an art gallery) next to the shop. Note the litter in the street. Folks were somewhat less environmentally sensitive six decades back.

Across the street in the upper left portion of the photo is the old Isaly’s Dairy Store. This family owned chain was founded in Mansfield, Ohio in 1931 and had stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Persons who remember the Isaly’s chain will also recall their chipped ham sandwiches. It was a pressed ham (don't ask what's in it) that was sliced one molecule thin and piled on white bread slathered with mayonnaise and topped with yellow American cheese and a tomato slice. They were also know for their “Skyscraper Cones”. The Isaly's Dairy made unusually rich ice cream they shipped in metal tins. It is said that an enterprising fountain attendant discovered that you could dip a big serving spoon into the tins and create a "dip" of ice cream that was six inches tall. This "mountain" of ice cream was extremely tantalizing. The favorite flavors were "White House" (vanilla with whole maraschino cherries) and "Maricopa" (vanilla with chunks of butterscotch). Isaly’s founder, William Isaly, invented the Klondike bar. Today the Old Prague Restaurant occupies the site.

The dwelling next to the dairy store was originally the Adam Trinter homestead (PJ 2-14-04). Adam and his wife, Wilhemena were born in, and had migrated to Vermilion from, Hesse Cassle, Germany after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 as did many 19th century Vermilionites. Over the years several different families occupied the residence. This included at least one popular local physician. Today the home, as well as the White Inn Restaurant next to it have evolved into a parking lot.

Further down the block (upper right) was George Rathbun’s grocery store. The canopy over the walk shaded baskets of locally grown fruit and vegetables. Inside George was ususally seated at the back calmly smoking a pipe, and waiting for someone to come along with whom he might share a tale or two. It was a dimly lit, but rather pleasant, place.

Next to Rathbun’s Store was Pete and Judd’s Barbershop (now the Captain’s Chair). Barbershops, like beauty parlours and newspaper offices, were (and remain) the hub of current local news - both good and bad. The only thing that has really changed over the years at this particular shop are the people.

Paul’s Snack Shop (PJ 11-18-04), forever boasting of being able to serve “6000 People (6 at a time)” was squeezed into the space between the barbershop and the newstand / Greyhound bus station next to it. Today it is an Italian eatery, and the old news stand is become J.A.Berk & Associates realty appraisal business. And on the very corner was Hart’s wonderful Corner Drug Store (currently the Main Street Grill). One would have been hard pressed to discover a better soda fountain on the planet than the one operated by pharmacist / owner Jim Hart. Isaly’s Dairy Store was good. But Jim Hart’s soda fountain was “gooder”.

And lastly - about the elderly fellow walking down the street with the sack over his shoulder. Because this is, in fact, a very candid photo the identity of the gentleman is, of course, unknown. It may have been “Old Jib” Snider on his way to his home in the “Stoveplant Allotment” after a day on the lake. Or it may have been just a weary traveller of yesteryear passing through the little town of Vermilion, O. on his way to Utopia.

_{Ref: Special Thanks to Vermilion resident John Trinter for the photo. Composed on 6/01/08; Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 6/05/08.}

_{"...one of Vermilion's great homes."}

SOFTWARE PORTRAITS: This software sketch was made from a photograph of the C.A. Trinter home on Perry Street in Vermilion taken abt. 1948. I have always considered this particular home to be one of Vermilion's great homes.

Once upon a time it was part of a much large home that sat on the south side of Liberty Avenue near the eastern corner of Decatur Street. The house from which it was taken still occupies that space. But this house, and the smaller one directly south of it were both divided and split from the larger place.

At the time this pic was taken the home belonged to Mr. Trinter. Later the Farrell Family lived there - and then the "Doc" Ream Family. Today it is occupied by the Green Family.

I always like the tiled roof. And when I was in Saigon, Vietnam I was reminded of this piece of home because many of the big mansions there had tiled roofs like "Doc Ream's place" in Vermilion.

The AKVIS sketch software worked very well with this photograph.

_{"Alheit's on Division Street"}

This is another software sketch taken from the same series of pix as that as the house on Perry Street. This is shows Alheit's Hardware Store as well as an Insurance Agency next door on Division (now Main) Street in Vermilion. Because it belongs to the same series of pix as the Trinter / Ream house one must assume that it is also abt.1948.

Later the hardware would become "Scud" Miller's Hardware. Today it's Winterstein Realty.

This particular pic was (from what I can tell) a dud. It was just a mistake. But, as always, I found a great deal of merit in it. Especially when I transformed it using the aforementioned software - adding just a touch of color.

This software is a fascinating toy.

_{Podcasts - "forever under construction..."}

PODCAST #142: This week the Vermilion Views Podcast #141 is essentially an experiment using my friends, video editing, and titles. The clips surrounding the main feature are just plain fun.

Also, please 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. I suggest that you visit these sites on a regular basis to see "what's shakin'".

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}

Links to additional Vermilion Ohio pages: Vermilion Ohio Historic Pix History of Linwood Park Vermilion Visitor's Advisory (Satire) Gore Orphanage History The Lester Pelton Story The Wreck of The Niles #152 The History of Crystal Beach Vermilion Views Archives Vermilion's Pioneer Woman; Charlotte Sturges Cloudy; Vermilion's Ferryman The History of Vermilion's Congregational Church Dedication Sermon of Jotham W. Goodell, 1843 The Last Time I Saw Charlie Hope Childrens Home Kenya A Profile of Rich Tarrant Vermilion Biographies Vermilion - Village of Lake Captains Vermilion's Youngest Minstrels Don Englebry's "Growing Up In Vermilion" "Views" Podcast Archive The Story of Vermilion's Education System Eden Valley Enterprises VHS Class of 1959

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:

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
-Edward Abbey

Vol.7, Issue 23, August 22, 2009

Archive Issue #336

_{Vermilion Views Search Engine}

© 2009 Rich Tarrant