CAST A COLD EYE: My friend K, from Maryland, asked me for a picture like this. It's not finished yet. As the winter wears on and the lake thaws and ices over again the ice piles will increase and look like small mountains. This photograph was taken yesterday (1-30-04) at 4pm along the lake shore at Sherod (share-id) Park. For folks at a distance it is very very cold here right now. I'm very sure the several people who receive this eZine and who winter in FLA are not envious. Oddly enough (or not) I don't mind the weather.

CHICAGO: Speaking of cold places...

I have not visited a movie theater since sometime in the 1980's. For whatever reason they don't enthrall me. Ergo; I miss the new movies.

I always hear about them on the radio/TV, and I read about them. But until they become available on television, tape or (now) DVD I won't see them.

This Christmas I received a DVD player. After a week of trying to learn how to use it I acquired and watched three movies. The movie Chicago is one of them. It's not an Academy Award production by any stretch - but it is entertaining. Just seeing Richard Gere tap dancing is a treat. It's almost laughable. But entertaining.

For those who, like myself, seldom leave home and are, consequently, 20 years behind everyone else, I recommend this film and one other. That film is Seabisquit. It is up for an Academy Award. It deserves the award. It won't receive it. But it will do one thing. It will stand the test of time. While Chicago is a film worth watching the "bisquit" is a film worth re-watching.

DIVISION STREET: I hope this takes your breathe away. It did mine. What a wonderful wonderful photo. Buffalo Bill Hlavin forwarded it to me about a week ago. I'd not seen it before.

Might I guess the age? It's pre-1915 - somewhere between 1908 and 1911. The Maudelton Hotel is gone from the corner (a fence remains). The interurbans are running through town (evidenced by the electric pole on the corner); the Baumhart Store is not yet built; I don't see the Crystal Theater;and the Masonic Building is still one large structure containing the Pelton-McGraw store on the corner.

Again, just guessing, I'd submit that this was most likely a part of a larger picture (wide angle) similar to the one in popular circulation of the same corner. I would also guess that they were taken at the same time, and that somewhere in an attic, at the bottom of an old chest, is the pic in its entirety. Methinks that the only way to acquire a reasonable view of the southeast corner of this street will be by using a good artist and historian.

TO BORE YOU TO DEATH: If it should ever seem that I am fixated on the person I call "Big Ed" Lampe it is no illusion. He, among several other early Vermilionites, really fascinates me. I will write (am writing) a relatively short biography of this giant. It seems that even when I'm not looking for information about him I stumble across something more.

This scene of the river moves me to offer a bit more information on this fellow for it was probably much the same when in the year 1883 "Big Ed" sailed up the Vermilion River, stepped of his boat, and came up to the town through the park some folks know as "Rubberneck" (Exchange).

"Big Ed" liked to tell the story of his first walk into Vermilion wherein as he passed a small building in the park he was hailed by a man by a man behind a locked door of the building. Without asking any questions he opened the door and let the man out only to discover the next day that he had "allowed a prisioner to escape from the village lock-up".

And the stories and feats abound about this man. Wonderful, wonderful, stuff; the things of which lengends are made.

Ed sailed out of lifes harbor at the Marine Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday, September 23, 1947 at the age of 76. I don't know many persons who could sail in the wake he left behind.

HISTORIC DOCUMENT: As always there is plenty to find whilst rifling through old newspaper files. This is something that will interest members of the Vermilion Boat Club. It is a copy of The first membership card issued by that club in 1914. It was issued to George Smith, and signed by A.F. Wakefield, Secretary-Treasurer. It certified that Mr. Smith would be in good standing in the club until January 1, 1915. Smith attended the organizing meeting held in the rooms of the Berk Insurance Company. The card was printed in two colors, blue and red, by The Vermilion News.

CLASS REUNION UPDATES: Again members of the Vermilion High School Class of 1959; your class reunion will be held between October 8 and 10, 2004 here in town. Those looking for more information on the subject can now visit the Class of '59 website by clicking on the highlighted text. To my knowledge Roger Boughton is responsible for that site. Also BuffaloBill Hlavin has asked me to find and 1958 football program for him. I'll look. But I'll also ask class members tuned into this site to also look and let myself, Roger, or Bill know if you have one.

Dale Wendell, in sunny Arizona, told me that his class (VHS 1944) will also be having a reunion this summer. Just this day (1-24-04) Dale let me know that it will be held on Sunday, July 25, 2004 at the Vermilion Fish and Game.

As news regarding these activities comes to my attention it will appear on this web page. So stay tuned.

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 let me know and I'll send them to you.

Links to other sites on the Web

Vermilion Ohio Historic Pix
History of Linwood Park
Vermilion Community Orchestra
Vermilion Chamber of Commerce
Vermilion's Oldest Church
Vermilion Visitor's Advisory (Satire)
Gore Orphanage History
The Lester Pelton Story

"I will return the seeing-eye dog." ~ Bart Simpson

Vol.1, Issue 45, January 31, 2004

© 2004 Rich Tarrant