FOREVER DUMB: It may as well have been a million years ago when this pic was taken of myself (on the right) with a friend Rick Carr (on the left) in the Saigon Bar on the infamous Tudo Street in Saigon, Viet-Nam. (Some "Viewers' weren't even born yet.)
Watching some television clips of President Obama's inauguration wherein he and the first lady were dancing with two Iraq War veterans I was reminded of the year (or so) I spent in the RVN.
I honestly hated military service. I considered it to be the closest I ever wanted to get to living in a dictatorship / communist environment. Beyond that there is something seriously wrong with being required to help kill faceless people for equally faceless people. And I can safely assume that many of those on the other side felt the same way. But, unfortunately, that is the way of the world.
When I left that place I vowed that I would never ever be an advocate of armed conflict without very good reason. And so I remain. Faulty intelligence and vengeance do not suffice as adequate excuses for sending dedicated young people into harms way.
But it continues. And, as Walt Whitman might have put it, it will always continue. Manunkind is forever dumb.
VFW Band-truck c.1973
VERMILION HIGH SCHOOL BAND C.1973 :
I finally got some of the names of the VHS band members that were aboard the old "Rube Band Truck" in this pic that was forwarded to me by band member Scott Dommin several weeks ago. One of my younger sisters, Nancy Emery, acquired most of them from Cindy Steinmetz Stepp (VHS 1972).
BAND MEMBERS BOTTOM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Row 1: cymbal girl __________?
Row 2: Brad Snell, Scott Dommin, Scott Steele, Ted Sterrett
Row 3: Terri Metz?, Jackie Sprosty, Jodi Koinis, Linda Ford?, Jerri Leigh Emery
Row 4: Marilyn Taylor, Chris Bender
Row 5: __________?, Julie Henkes?, Sharon Buckholz, Bobbi Emery
Row 6: Sally Dehnel, Georgene Muller, Kim Huffman
Ozzie Kelm was driving and Clayton Cook was the navigator. Both men were favorites of mine - good fellows.
The truck (as mentioned in previous "Views") was originally owned by the local American Legion Post #397, and was used in parades and various outdoor dance activities by their "Rube Band". It was well known throughout the area.
And again (as mentioned in previous "Views")the old truck spent its last days parked aside Ozzie's house on Cherry Road southwest of town - where it fell to ruin and was, sadly, eventually scrapped.
It's too bad that nobody was ever interested in salvaging the vehicle.
I'm thankful for Scott's pix. I've only a few of the old truck in my collection.
DEAR DR. LAURA...
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's
Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to
share that knowledge with as many people as I can. For
example, when someone tries to defend the homosexual
lifestyle, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly
states it to be an abomination. End of debate.
However, I do need some advice from you regarding some of the
other specific laws and how to follow them.
1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it
creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev.1:9). The problem
is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them.
Should I smite them?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as
sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you
think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she
is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19-24.
The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most
women take offense.
4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both
male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring
nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans,
but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.
Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I
morally obligated to kill him myself?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish
is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than
homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God
if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear
reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there
some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including
the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly
forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead
pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear
gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting
two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by
wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread
(cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme
a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble
of getting the whole town together to stone them
(Lev.24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a
private family affair like we do with people who sleep with
their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) I know you have studied these
things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you
again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and
unchanging.
"...Nearly 90 years have passed since that August afternoon when someone captured the tug Rainbow sliding into port at the Kishman Company docks to off-load their catch."
THE RAINBOW:
A majority of professional fishermen in Vermilion called it “The Golden Age of Commercial Fishing”. What they referred to was an idyllic period of time when Lake Erie waters ran so clear one could see a school of blue pike 10 feet beneath the surface; a time when it was so clean one could drink from a tin can dipped in the lake; a time when local trapnetters would set out 40 nets and upon their return every one would boil with a ton or more of perch; and last, but hardly least, a time when there was very, very little government interference in their pursuits - their livelihoods.
Precisely when this era began, or when it ended, is unclear. Most of those who knew those times are now gone. The boats with which they worked the wave-capped fields and upon which they harvested the bounties they found beneath the great lake are also gone. So, by and large, all we can know of those days is confined to a very few history books (some out of print), and a few worn and faded snapshots squirrelled away in a trunk in someone’s attic waiting to be found.
This snapshoot of the Rainbow is one of those items. Seen here near the Kishman docks in the summer of 1917 the steam-powered gill-net tug is very likely in the blush of commercial fishing’s Hyblaean age.
The Kishman Fishery gill-netter was then captained by a gentleman named John P. Naegele. Naegele was a first generation American. Born in Vermilion in 1878 both parents had immigrated from Germany some years earlier. He and his wife, Carrie, lived in a tidy white frame house at, what was then, 201 Huron Street. They had no children. But they had a niece (Mrs. Harold Markman) who lived in San Raphael, California, and two nephews; Allen Hasenpflue and Dr. Paul Naegele. Both men were well known Vermilionites.
In 1935 Naegele abruptly left fishing and moved to Erie Pennsylvania where he worked for the Erie Sand and Gravel Company, and then the Talon Zipper Company. The reason for this sudden change in occupation is a mystery. But the fate of the Rainbow is not.
Sometime later (possibly during the late 1930’s) the old gill-netter was abandoned, and lay on her side near the dock at the Vermilion Yacht Club. According to late Vermilion historian, George Wakefield, Captain Clifford Parsons was then hired to dispose of her - and proceeded to do just that.
He dried her out and towed her with his tug Alma out into a deep part of lake and sunk her. But no sooner had she gone beneath the surface than up she came again like a cork - much to the consternation of both Parsons and the Coast Guard. Bobbing around in the lake it would have become a very real navigational hazard. We may, however, safely assume that Parsons quickly solved that problem. But as George so poetically put it, the authorities were “ pretty rough on him [Capt. Parsons] after the fiasco at the end of the Rainbow.”
In 1958 John and Carrie Naegele retired to their home in Vermilion. In the spring of 1962 Carrie was scratched by a plant while working in her flower garden behind their home on Huron Street, and subsequently died when it became severely infected. In August of the same year John also sailed into eternity.
Nearly 90 years have passed since that August afternoon when someone captured the tug Rainbow sliding into port at the Kishman Company docks to off-load their catch. The photo lay dormant in someone’s collection of old memorabilia until this year when, like the old steam-tug itself, it bubbled to the surface of our lives bringing with it a rainbow of ruminations of yet another yesteryear.
Ref: Lake Erie Fishermen, Work, Tradition, and Identity; Lloyd and Mullen, University of Illinois Press, 1990; Lure of the Lakes, A Taste of The Great Lakes; George Wakefield, 2001; U.S. Census 1910, 20, 30; Ohio Deaths 1908-2002; Special Thanks to Warren and Anita Mehnert. Text Published in the Vermilion Photojournal on 11/30/06
11/26/06
5:03 PM
"How about them bananas?"
WILLIAM BRUNS REFRESHMENT STAND:
I received a great pic of William Bruns, Owner of Rye Beach Park in Huron, Ohio last week from my friend (the preminent electric interurban historian) Dennis Lamont and I couldn't help but make an electronic sketch from it and put some color on it.
What a fascinating photo.
I don't know anything about Mr. Bruns or the history of Rye Beach Park. I only know the location and that it was apparently a summer resort which later evolved into a trailer park. And whilst I've paid little attention to it as of late I am assuming that like most properties adjoining the lake that it is becoming prime realty for big time developers.
How about them bananas?
"The Wakefield Family c.1930"
WHO IS LEE (?): "Viewer" Molly Milner sent this great pic of the F.W. Wakefield Family along last week with the question:"Do you have any idea who Lee is?
I do not. But she's a very pretty girl, and I surmise that some "Viewer" might know exactly who she is.
In addition to that I really can't identify the locale of this photograph. It's appear to be rather unusual - as if it were near a quarry of some kind. And in the background (just to the left) there appears to be a body of water.
Just guessing - but it may have been taken on one of the islands on the Great Lakes. It should be noted that Molly included the information that tells us that "Claud Noble was a niece of F. W. Wakefield and was visiting from Atlanta". The name "Claud" is unusual (at least to me).
Hopefully some "Viewer" can shed some light on the identity of "Lee" and the locale of the pic.
DON'T JUST SIT THERE WITH A MOUSE IN YOUR HAND! HELP THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY!: Take a cyber visit through my on-line store.
Christmas is over but I still have some things left and I'm busy designing new items for Valentines Day. If you've not purchased something yet you're missing the proverbial boat. So stay close; and take a virtual tour of the shop. I keep the floor swept and the windows clean.
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 #112: This week Vermilion Views Podcast #112 is a slide show of pix taken at the Olympic Outing Club on July 4, 2006 with some explication of some of my personal woes from week last.
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.
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 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.
If, however, something important come along - it will appear here.
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
"The time is come for all good men who've talked the talk to walk the walk."
-Professor Roselyn Picher
Vol.6, Issue 45, January 24, 2009
Archive Issue #306
© 2009 Rich Tarrant