ALONG THE RIVER: This is a pretty view of the sailboats across the river from The Red Clay Restaurant which are tied up at the Parsons Docks. I took this some weeks ago when the weather was still reasonaby nice. Summer has seemingly escaped Vermilion this year. It's been good sleeping weather as some like to put it. The problem for me is that I don't normally have plans to be sleeping any more than usual, and I don't sleep outside. I prefer good waking weather. This rainy/cool weather is annoying. The one thing I will say about it, however, is that it's a great deal better that many of our friends in Florida have had to endure during the previous few days.
The state of Florida [as many "Viewers" will understand] is an annex of Ohio.
DARK CLOUDS: Perhaps this will make Vermilion expatriots feel better. This was the sky before the rains began. I don't normally make a practice of taking pictures of the sky. This was an experiment. I was interested in the color. If this was a black and white photo it would be powerless. Color adds something. It tells of an impending summer storm and all that will come with it. There are expectations: the sound of thunder; the flash of lightning; the wind tossing the treetops; the odor of the rain washing across the earth and pavement. None of that would even come to mind without the color. But the truth of the matter is simply - I like the photograph and it needed an explanation.
THE CRYSTAL BEACH: This is another photo I received electronically from Dennis Lamont of Birmingham. It is self explanatory and I really really appreciate having it. At the very same time Dr. Norman Dean of Maryland sent me (via snailmail) a substantial amount of information about the old coaster with residual information about the entire park and, to some degree, his (the Dean) family.
Many people familiar with Vermilion are familiar with the Deans'. Jimmy and Dan still live in Vermilion.
I knew Jim from the days when I worked at the Kountry Kitchen Restaurant (now the site of the Old Prague Restaurant) across the street from the old Liberty Theater. Jim and a fellow named George Belden were friends and would take coffee at the restaurant with some regularity. Both were also scuba divers. I recall one New Years Eve when they cut a hole in the ice down by the waterworks and celebrated the new year beneath the frozen river. But I digress.
The father of these boys was one Francis Dean. Francis was once the mayor of Vermilion-On-The-Lake when it was still a village. He was also, very apparently, a working entrepreneur. In November of 1962, when the rides and small buildings at 23 acre Crystal Beach Amusement Park were placed on the auction block he bought the old Roller Coaster for $400. That was 200,000 board feet of Georgia Pine - without a knot - with some support beams 60 feet long, 20 tons of iron, 12 cars from the ride, and a four room cottage for eight fifty dollars bills [cash].
Dr. Norman told me that it was actually a "fluke" that allowed his dad to get the coaster. Approximately 780 people were at the auction that day in early November of 1962. Among them was a group of lawyers from out-of-town. Unfortunately, they had neglected to understand that only cash bids would be accepted at the event. Francis Dean had that cash in his pocket.
It is my understanding that he had one year to remove the coaster from the grounds. A group known as the Crystal Investment Corporation of Vermilion had plans to erect housing for elderly people on the site (which did eventually happen).
Mr. Dean and his boys got the job done in the alloted time. Much of the wood was sold for building purposes and most of the iron was sold as scrap. Interestingly enough the motor, alone, sold for $900.
This is quite a story and is one I plan to use in the Vermilion Photojournal in the future. The coaster thrilled a great many people from the time it was built in 1928 until the park closed (I don't remember the precise year) in the very early '60's. It was a landmark. It was also one of those things I probably passed a million times in my life and never paid much attention to until it was gone. While I never rode on it I can very distinctly remember the sound of it click-clicking along and the screams of both joy and terror of the riders as it raced up and down it's wooden course.
SMITTY: And here, courtesy of my chum K(athy) Dickason-Kvach who now (also) lives in Maryland, is a wonderful color photograph of one Warren "Smitty" Smith: Brother of Sterling, father of Robert etc. I know that Smith is a common name in America, but this fellow and his relatives were/are hardly what one might consider to be common people.
In this particular picture "Smitty" is standing in the doorway of his bait-store that was once located on Darrow Road just west of Joppa Road just a stone's throw southwest of town. Behind his shop he had dug a small canal. My assumption is that he used it to manufacture, store, and harvest his bait. Years prior to this time he had businesses of this type [also had Smith's Tire Co. where the Freeman-Eckley Boat Sales business is today] along the Vermilion River.
I add the excerpt from the U.S. Census of 1930 below his picture as an informational/historic piece. I found both his location (on East Liberty Street) and income to be of some interest.
In some contrast here (but not shown) is the income of his neighbor, Mr. Helfrich. Helfrich was making $35,000 a year. I may be mistaken but I believe that "Smitty's" income was about average in town for that period of time.
I have, over the years, had some contact with Mr. Smith's son Robert who now lives in St. Louis. Through Robert I learned that the family's Vermilion roots reach back to the very beginnings of Vermilion as a settlement with ties to Frederick and Charlotte (nee Tuttle) Sturges/Sturgis who settled on the east side of the Vermilion River in 1810. They had a tavern and a ferry service. Charlotte left behind a rather stirring account of her experiences during the war of 1812 and the little known Pennusula War with the indians (on South Bass Island) during the same time period.
"Smitty" was an extremely popular person with many Vermilionites and sport fisherman in the area. K's father, Doctor John Dickason, would not have had this photo were this not the case.
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 this site. I will mention that a visit to this particular website is worth ones time. Roger informed me that he now uses some Vermilion pix from some of my websites on his electronic newsletter. Maybe you didn't belong to this class, but I'm sure you know someone who does. And I think you'll enjoy reading some of their memories of those days. Note that Roger will not be sending out a newsletter by snail-mail any longer. The webpage will be the reunion notification/information center from now on. He's got new stuff on line as he gets it - and it's interesting. So take time to go there.
Also Buffalo Bill Hlavin has asked me to find a 1958 football program for him. I'll look. But I'll also ask class members tuned into this site to also look and let Bill, Roger, or myself know if you have one.
Persons interested in having their VHS (and vicinity) reunion plans posted on this site are welcome to do so. I can't provide anyone with webpages to post their activities in depth, but I can provide a link to existing pages and/or post some activity items here. All anyone need do is contact me at my email address and pass along their material electronically.
As news regarding VHS reunion 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
Vol.2, Issue 22, August 21, 2004
© 2004 Rich Tarrant