The Passing Scene – July 1969

There were just two The Passing Scene panels in July 1969. Maybe Gene Patrick was just busy, or perhaps there was just too much going on that month with the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Anyway, the first strip appeared in the July 5, 1969 edition, the day after the infamous storm. Gene pokes fun at the International Festival, and well as the festival's golf tournament. None other than Sam Snead was a guest star at the Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Lorain Country Club on June 30th.

In the other panel, which ran on July 12th, Gene addresses the July 4th storm with one of the saddest looking cartoon characters he ever drew: a tearful man holding a fizzled-out firecracker while up to his armpits in flood water. It's a great drawing that sums up the tragedy well.

But in the same strip he also includes some of his most pointed and hilarious barbs, poking fun at the City of Lorain's many stalled municipal projects (including the railroad underpass that would not become a reality until the late 1980s), as well as Governor James Rhodes' proposed bridge to Canada.