Mantua – While it may sound like the lead-in to a bad joke, it was the start of a fun and enjoyable evening held at Restoration 44 Coffee shop in Mantua. The event was held in conjunction with the Mantua Historical Society, and got its start last year at a local Christmas party when Dottie Summerlin listened in on what she thought was an interesting conversation among some of her guests. As a member of the Historical Society, she was intrigued by the local lore and entertained by the humorous tales the group shared. She thought maybe a few others might enjoy hearing their stories and was thrilled when her friends at the Historical Society readily agreed. They set out to plan a community event to make that possible and asked James Fritinger, Tim Gould, and Roger Hurd to speak. R44 kindly offered space; the collective group only hoped people would want to attend the event.
As it turns out, they needn’t have worried — the coffee shop’s beautiful new event space was filled with a crowd of individuals wanting to listen to stories of bygone years, share some laughs, and even share a few stories of their own. By all accounts, the event was a success. So much so, that they may be looking to host a similar event in the future.
The guests of honor have all lived in the Mantua area for 70+ years, but interestingly enough, only one of them was born here. During the special evening, the trio reminisced of their parents and families, about being raised on local farms, and attending school in the area. During their school years, they participated in activities much like their kids and grandkids have done. Activities included basketball, football, Beta Club and Student Council. Still, the group acknowledged just how much school has changed since they were students, noting, “If you got in trouble at school, just wait until you got home…you hadn’t been in trouble yet.” Hurd joked, “I HAD to be good. My mom and grandmother were both teachers.”
The group attended the Mantua Center School for kindergarten through seventh grade. Gould recalled himself and classmates marching from the school across State Route 82 to the Civic Center to celebrate graduation from Kindergarten, since traffic was infrequent on the thoroughfare back in the day. The Civic Center, which was one of the largest buildings in the area, also hosted the County basketball championship. He noted being among the first class to go through all grades at the ‘new’ Crestwood High School. Gould noted he had around 80 students in his graduating class, with around half coming from Streetsboro, since there was no high school in that community. A voice from the crowd joked, “Did you have trouble finding a date that wasn’t related to you?”
They shared plenty of funny stories showing the striking contrast between the schools of their youth versus today. Hurd relayed a story of the pig he raised — the runt of the liter. As the pig grew, it learned to follow him to school, but knew to return home when the bell signaled the beginning of classes. It returned when the recess bell rang, loving the attention lavished by kids at the playground. He would return home when recess ended, only to return when the final bell rang at the end of the day. When asked what happened to that pig by a former classmate years later at a reunion, Hurd shared, “I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I told her ‘I don’t remember…but it tasted good.’”
The pig tale led to the story of Mr. Foster’s cow, which somehow ended up on the second floor of the Mantua Center School, though none in attendance would claim responsibility. Gould recalled how Mrs. Hurd would excuse boys from class to round up ponies that broke loose from the nearby farm adding, “Whatever classes we missed, we didn’t have to make up.” They talked of how, as the school carnival became less popular, a priest from Saint Joseph’s parish asked to assume the event. It was transformed over the years into the Annual St. Joe’s Ox Roast event that is held today.
Fielding questions from the crowd, the men mentioned the dime store in the village where they shopped for Christmas presents as kids, and the A & P grocery store, Glen’s Drug Store, and the commuter train that ran through town. They wisely noted hard-earned advice about not talking politics with the barber before getting a haircut, “or you may end up with a shaved head.” Commenting on how times have changed, Fritinger recalled that more than a dozen farms lined the Chamberlain Road of his youth, while today, only two remain.
They noted that in small town Mantua, everyone knew everyone, because friends and neighbors would come to town on Saturday mornings. And while Mantua may have changed much over the 70+ years they’ve resided there, all agreed it was a wonderful place to grow up. He jokingly added that those in attendance should drink the local water, noting that many local residents lived to be 100. “Lots of wonderful people have lived here,” Hurd acknowledged, adding that many wonderful folks still call Mantua home.
