fbpx
Advertisement

Mantua’s Stonehenge

Our story begins in 1914 when a new school building was built in Mantua, Ohio. Designed by a world-famous architect to new fireproof standards it is one of the very few examples left in existence—a true Stonehenge of sorts. Life went merrily on as usual for the next 90 years until 2004 when the school system, faced with state requirements consolidated all their holdings and created one new central elementary school. What to do with this magnificent old building? Why, offer it to the Township government for a ridiculously cheap price. They could certainly make good use of it since their current buildings are meager, not in the best condition and God forbid, made of matchstick wood (easily flammable)... Let us continue our transition into modernity.

Iva’s Input: Amen to That!

Got inspired at church on Sunday( This is not an automatic occurrence, I have to confess. I get distracted…and sometimes sleepy, truth be told). Meaning, of course, that The Rev came pretty close to matching my point of view on a whole bunch of things. He also tossed out some statistics that were sobering and even scarey from some...

Iva’s Input: And We’re Off!

Fairs end. School starts. Games/competitions–football, soccer, volleyball., golf, cross-country–are on ( Just got an invitation to a Quiz Bowl event too). It’s crazy out there. Hang onto your hats…or any other item of apparel which you might find inhibiting…it’s all happening Now! I finished the summer with a Grand Tour de Force, hitting three fairs–Lorain County Wellington Fair, Portage County...

The Old Road: “I Need A Christmas Tree Truck”

“Could you fellas find me an old truck, actually maybe two or three of them, to put on my Christmas tree farm?  They don’t have to run at all. I want to create an old time atmosphere and experience for my customers. I’ll have Wintergreen Tree Farm stenciled on the sides. I want things to look rustic and old,...

What a Week That Was

Started out with the first football game of the season. That went well…for us, anyway. Then on Saturday there was an outdoor wedding, for which the weather was absolutely perfect (Doesn’t always turn out that way), followed by the fifty-year reunion of the Class of ‘73 (They’re the ones who collected class dues or something to put together a...

The Old Road: First Fishing Day in May 1955

It was a Saturday in May of 1955. I am 9 years old and have been waiting for this day since last fall. Fishing with my grandpa Charlie, my dad and me, it did not get any better than this. We got up at about 3:30 AM. It would be a looooong day that typically wouldn’t culminate until about...

Lost in the Digital Wilderness

I had been intending to do this particular piece on my laptop, thus ending its long retirement from meaningful operation, but that just did not happen, for a number of reasons. See, I have had this device for quite some time, not forever, but long enough, but it had mostly served as my access to the Monday edition of the...

Thoughts From the Big Store

white bubble illustration

Every so often I make my way out of town(Somebody else is in charge as soon as I cross the village limits, just so everything does not “go to hell in a handbasket”. So far, so good.)and I frequently take the opportunity to “people watch” –especially when I go to one of the “BIG” stores, where there are a...

Dad Deserves the Best: Father’s Day Gift Ideas That Will Impress

Many families have their own unique Father’s Day traditions, but it’s not uncommon for those rituals to cross familial lines. For example, gift-giving is one popular Father’s Day tradition many families share. With that in mind, anyone looking for the right gift for Dad this Father’s Day can consider these ideas. Personalized Photo Album: Gather cherished family photos and create...

Home Sweet Home, both of ‘em

My current abode being somewhat the worse for wear, I was recently inspired to “go home” to Wellington to get one more look–maybe the last…or close to it–at the old homestead before someone new gets to call it “home.” So, anyway, it was a fine drive to Lorain County and even after all of these years, I still notice how...

May be… Maaayyybe not…

I was thinking that May would be pretty quiet, once the monumental trip to Chicago was over, things might calm down, I might be able to kick back, relax, let the mind wander (as it is wont to do), do some stuff that had fallen by the wayside, as often happens, get some things done, maybe. May be… First of...

Vancura Valedictory

So…here’s my plan: Nearly everyone who knew Barry Vancura knew that he was all about Christmas. He loved shopping for gifts, getting just the right gift for everyone on his list–which was extensive, getting “a deal” on the items which met his exacting criteria, decorating for the holiday (What ? You think that he didn’t have a hand–or at least...

All You Need is Love

Well, not exactly. The Beatles got a lot of things right but this sentiment is not really gonna cut it when it comes to public works…like, say, the Portage County Park District. Saturday, April 22, was the annual Portage Park District Foundation recognition benefit dinner event, giving credit where credit was due to many of the folks (not all, mind...

April Fooled!

So far, April has been fairly nondescript…except for the tree falling on the front porch, of course. And there’s no a whole lot going on after Easter, unless you’re into Earth Day–like the Portage County Park District, which will hold its annual Awards event on the twenty-second in Kent–or are interested in the new moon (which means that you...

Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail

Most interesting Easter in a while. Got an invitation to brunch which I had to turn down because it landed smack in the middle of church, which ran long on account of technical difficulties to start with, then just because it’s Easter, involving all sorts of “pomp & circumstance” and majorly long hymns of celebration (Charles Wesley never could...

DANG!! Where Did I Put My Ruby Slippers??

They’re not around here, that’s for darn sure. Maybe they’ve made it to Kansas, though it would be more likely that they’d wind up in PA, the way that wind was whooping it up from the West on Saturday. All of the wind warnings in the world can’t help you much, if the trees do not tip-toe out of...

H&G Amish Style

At the Amish Home & Garden Show, which took place just last weekend, there’s one thing you can count on finding, no matter what you came for in the first place, and that’s –FOOD. You can hit the Auction House Restaurant (which features the Farmers’ Grill) or just browse around to all of the candy shops, kettle corn, Easter candy,...

Grrrrrrr

I am starting (again) to get cranked-out by people being utterly unaware of the fact that what they are doing–or NOT doing–is affecting other people, and not in a good way. In short, people are starting to bug me. Imagine that! Now, I am not, in any way, shape or form, implying that I never do this sort of thing...

Easy Riders?

Well, they did it again. They came. They saw. They caught a break in the weather and had a very successful Road Apple Roubaix on Saturday (March 4, 2023) in Garrettsville…and surrounding locales, as they took to the roads, out-and-about, returned to Slim & Jumbo’s and generally made a day of it. Numerous bike-friendly businesses–Eddie’s Bike Shop, Mountain Road Cycles,...

Winter Wonderland?

So… I’ve been wondering a whole bunch of stuff about this so-called winter which we have been having. It seems that there are records of all sort being broken all over the place…highest temperature on such-and-such a date…least amount of snow for whatever month…lowest temperature on some other date (Thank God every day that we do not live in...

WWJD: Finding A Place To Park

When you’re a “nomad” traveling in a camper van finding a place to park for the night can get tricky; by “tricky” I mean difficult or down right impossible! I am currently in the Florida Keys and most businesses as well as land owners are not keen on letting people sleep on their property. Sure, there are rest stops...

Unseasonable?

If it’s Thursday, this must be Springtime. There was a book or movie once-upon-a-time about someone taking a European tour–one of those guided rat-races through the continent–where nobody gets a chance to do much more than spot the Eiffel Tower on their way to the London Bridge. The name of the movie (or book, whatever) was, I think, “If It’s...

A February Spring Is Not Worth A Thing!

So opines the Old Farmer’s Almanac (Actually the Old Farmer says it’s “not worth a pin,” but I took a few poetic liberties to improve {?} the rhyme). February has a number of putative highlights: andlemas/Groundhog Day, the Full Snow moon (Doesn’t seem to have been very consequential, at least around here), St. Valentine’s Day/ Sts. Cyril & Methodius...

Merrily We Roll Along…

Well, sorta… “Merrily” might be overstating just a tad, but I sure did some rolling. First off, was the trip to Kentucky–Glasgow, Kentucky, to be specific, a trip of some seven or so hours, making good time. The high-rollers on the JAG Quiz Bowl team made the trek down to the Bluegrass State at the invitation of the Jesse Brown Small...

Good Company Poor Sleep Is Extremely Costly

Although it can be hard to admit, your mom probably was right when she said, “Get a good night’s sleep, and you’ll feel better in the morning.” According to a recent Gallup poll, poor sleep habits significantly impact employees and the American economy. According to researchers, insufficient sleep affects more than just employees, with employers losing billions of dollars annually...

WWJD: The Maiden Voyage

Brio would not get into his carrier and he dislikes being picked up and carried so the next step was to attach his leash and walk him to the van! He pulled a Houdini and slipped right out of it; thank goodness that did not happen someplace where the noisy world would have spooked him into doing a runner!I...

I Scream… You Scream… We All Scream…

ICE ! No cream…just that gosh-awful ICE. On the roads, on the sidewalks, on the parking lots & driveways…By the by, I will take this opportunity to give a shout-out of appreciation–which I try to do at least yearly–to those folks around town who keep their sidewalks cleared. Not everybody is able, I do understand, and the village guys have...

Unlikely All-sorts

The Akron Beacon-Journal has had some beauts lately. One of my favorites was the New Funko Pop Collection “honoring” Dolly Parton. Now Dolly has received just about every honor that a country/pop/r&r singer is likely to be nominated for. She’s been in the movies and on TV and received national recognition for her performance and her song-writing and her...

HA HA ! Ha Ha! ha ha…what?

I have always thought that my sense of humor was, at least, O.K. But I’m beginning to wonder about everybody else, especially in the public prints and commercially-produced correspondence, i.e., cards of various sorts. Whole bunches of TV commercials too, fail to make it to contact my funny bone. Ditto for a lot of the programming. Too many laugh...

Oddness Out There!!

Every so often something worth paying attention to pops up on my computer screen. This does NOT include the stuff in the SPAM folder from the vast number of outfits who seem to think that I am some dude named “Ivan” who can’t spell his own name; those people keep sending me info about “male enhancement”, directions to “new...

Advertisement

Recent Articles