Skip Schweitzer
Where Has The Gearshift Gone?
Nope. It’s not there. The gearshift is definitely not where it always has been, and it’s not between the seats either. Instead there is this T Shaped gismo stuck to the lower right side of the steering column. No, it doesn’t run the wipers. It’s the new way to...
Unexpected push back from a new senior relationship
What do you do when you have finally reached retirement age, and your loving spouse of many years has recently passed away? Perhaps you were even the main caregiver, and your own health suffered greatly, prematurely aging you during this time. Does this sound at all familiar to some...
The Senior Circuit………….
UNEXPECTED PUSH BACK FROM A NEW SENIOR RELATIONSHIP
What do you do when you have finally reached retirement age, and your loving spouse of many years has recently passed away? Perhaps you were even the main caregiver, and your own health suffered greatly, prematurely aging you during this time. Does...
Resurgence or Languishing
Are we on the brink of being put out to pasture? Or rather, are we entering into the most significant period of resurgence we’ve ever experienced? Who do we applaud? Do we admire those who hang up their careers and live for that 2 P.M. daily nap or those...
Old Yeller at Dunkin’ Donuts
No, I’m not an old yellow dog, but yes, I am old and apparently, I sure do yell.
He said (towards the microphone outside his car), “What did you say? I want double cream and...”
She responded, “Okay. I’ll talk louder. Sir, could you get closer to the microphone? I’m having...
Follow the Signs: Part III
This is part three of the story about running down a Model “A” Ford lead and purchasing the car. Jerry and I most often look for hobby cars that were never finished or cars that have sat in the garage for years and years, forgotten until a new owner or...
Follow the Signs: Part II
We are in the bizarre Disneyland of extraordinary peculiarity with the expressed purpose of buying a Model “A” Ford that was acquired by collector John Smith in 2015. Mr. Smith was a collector extraordinaire of unusual things including, but not limited to, antique cars. His homestead displays his penchant...
Follow the Signs: Part I
This is a story about running down a Model “A” Ford lead and possibly being able to purchase the car. We most often look for hobby cars that were never finished or cars that have sat in the garage for years and years, forgotten until a new owner or...
Two Mice and a Truck
Oh gosh Henrietta, something is going on in the barn again. The humans have opened up the barn doors, too much light, not used to all this light in this old barn. Get me my sunglasses! Sam, it’s that farmer guy lookin’ around in here. Oh boy, he’s brought...
Foodtrucks in 1966
Have you noticed the abundance of competing food trucks at events you attend? Is this a machination of the current marketing minds? Excepting for the good humor truck and the milk man in his distinctly peculiar looking milk truck, I don’t remember food trucks being at events. Maybe the...
My new old Thunderbird time-machine
Driving down the road with no particular destination in mind, I’ve been waiting for a nice fall or winter day like this: clear, 60 degrees, perfect for taking this car out for a run. The Model “A” has been winterized, yet I’m hoping to sneak the Bird out on...
The Old Road: Old cars, old classmates and teen angstSkip’s 1950...
It is 1963. I’m a football player in 11th grade. I’m in English Class at Maple Heights High School. I’m in the first row, third seat back nearest the window (A potential escape route if the building gets bombed, or more likely, if I say something stupid and bomb...
Let’s Get The Mantua Center School Back On Track
So, who is to blame here? We seem to be a society fixated on pinning the blame on someone or something. The war is over people!!! Blame? Forget the blame (Hint, Hint)! Forget the name calling!! We’ve now documented and recorded for posterity the sometimes sordid history! The world-renown...
The Vacant Castle Part II
From 2020 through the greater part of 2023, things ground to a halt due to the COVID plague. Different plagues and famines likewise hit Shakespearean England 800 years ago and they seemed to last for years and years. People died, people migrated to the new world. Here in our...
The Vacant Castle
This is the continuing story of the Shakespearean-like little hamlet, Mantua Township, Ohio. A comedy of errors, it is loaded with irony, sometimes silliness, sometimes idiocy. To bring readers up to date, it’s a story that often features people of honesty, compassion and empathy. It also has a distinct...
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.
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 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...
When Out On The Lawn There Arose Such A Clatter…
No, no reindeer this time; just a puffed up Scotty barking wildly, defending her territory from a hissing and snarling opossum……….like so many times before! It is 5:30 AM, not even light. I’m barely awake—that pseudo state wherein you are not quite conscious. I’m just going through the motions...
Down the Old Road…The Shape Of Things To Come?
“Cash or card only”; There are at least ten self-check outs at the front of the store… ( If you want to do the store’s job for them.) No waiting! Otherwise, get in line at the only register open ( seven others being closed) with a human being and...
The Old Road… A Different Slice Of This Life…. A Hoarder...
Wearing my psychologist hat:To recap briefly, we followed up a lead on Model “A”s which led us to southeast Ohio in hill country. There we found, using the most humane adjectives I can muster to describe a person, a hoarder who lived in little more than a tar paper...
The Old Road… A Different Slice Of This Life…. A Hoarder
“I ain’t never throwed nothin’ away. It’s all here on this property from when I was a kid. I got all the tractors that I ever owned and Model “A” cars and parts everywhere—barrels of ‘em!, barrels of starters and generators, barrels of horns, barrels of carburetors. You fellas...
The Old Road…. Summer of “64
It was the summer of 1964, the year that I graduated from Maple Heights high school. I was 17, one of the youngest in my class. So, what had I been doing for that past year and a half to make money to pay for gas, cars and parts...
The Old Road…. Special People, Special Organization
There are a lot of special people in this community, unsung heroes that seem to go far out of their way for you and me. It might be helping you out in the garden, lending their expertise as master gardeners, or just serving you consistently and delightfully in a...
Down the Old Road…I Really Want An Antique Automobile
“I’ve been looking at, toying with, buying an old car, antique automobile, that I could take to cruise-ins, antique car shows, or just cruise around town in. They’re cool! Are they good investments? You have a couple of them. What really do they cost and how much does it...
The Old Road… The Tractor Show Goes On
The Geauga County Historical Society Century Village Museum announces the Back In Time Power Show from July 29-31 from 8 AM to 5 PM each day. Step back in time as we showcase tractor and historical equipment of all kinds in a beautiful period setting. There will be a...
Down the Old Road…Would You Take Us For A Ride?
“You have the coolest old cars. I enjoy reading about them all the time in the Villager. Would you consider taking me, my sister and her husband for a long ride in one of your old cars? Maybe we could go to a specific destination, make an afternoon of...
Looking For An Old Beetle
It’s been in the back of my mind for quite a while now, that bucket list thing. Gotta have one more Volkswagen, my all-time favorite automobile with so many wonderful memories. It needs to be a really fine one though. Old age limits my working on them anymore and...
The Old Road… Ignoring The Elephant In The Room
After reading the July and August summer editions of Classic Car Magazine and, as well, participating in a few good local car shows around town, it occurs to me that we, the average men-- lifeblood of the old car hobby-- perhaps need to demand from these magazines more emphasis...
We’re Playing and Singing Again!
After many, many requests to once again play and sing together as we did before the pandemic, we are resuming our Musical Jam sessions at the Mantua Center Christian Church on July 16 from 6-8 PM. The address is 4118 Ohio 82 at Mantua Center Road. This will be...
