Along the Old Lake Road Today

If you turn south onto Oak Point Road from Route 6, you very quickly encounter the street sign above. It's where historic Old Lake Road crosses Oak Point Road.

But don't plan on taking a retro road trip down Old Lake Road anytime soon.

Heading east, Old Lake Road (apparently private now) meanders down to Beaver Creek and the Copper Kettle Marina. Heading west, the road is more or less the driveway for the PQM Wastewater Plant.

Although it's not possible for us to drive on the old roadbed today, we can still enjoy seeing it through the eyes of someone who walked it.

Bob Kovach, a longtime contributor to this blog, was working at the PQM Plant when he emailed me back in December 2010. He wrote, "I thought you would be interested in what I know about the section of the road from the PQM Wastewater plant heading west up to the electric company.

"The road is still there, but has been reclaimed by nature big time. There is a section that has sort of a catch basin drain on each side.

Courtesy Bob Kovach

"I have found some spots along side of the road were old bottles have been thrown, mostly broken now. I also found a very nice license plate from 1950 (at left).

"Once you get close to the electric company, the road sort of disappears into the landscape. Not a whole lot to see, but very interesting just the same."

I checked in with Bob last summer to see if he was still working at the PQM Plant. He wrote, "I'm still working at the plant and haven't been down the old road for a number of years.

"Once in a while I'll walk over to our fence a few feet away, and try to make out the roadway that is pretty well grown over. There is an old metal gate that blocked traffic from getting onto the road that must have been there for many years, because the trees have actually grown around the post.

Old Lake Road looking west from the PQM Plant
Courtesy Bob Kovach

"I don't know how long that gate was there before the plant was built in '88, but I think the road was closed many years before 1988."

****

I had no idea that Old Lake Road was still out there until I traded emails with Bob. I had seen the road on maps for years, and assumed it was just a cartographer's mistake.

1972 Map

After corresponding with Bob, however, I started to utilize the various online aerial maps that were available, and was delighted to discover that you could see old roadbeds that were not visible from main highways – such as Old Lake Road.

Here's a screen grab from several years ago, showing Old Lake Road west of the PQM Plant.

And here's the whole stretch of Old Lake Road – from the PQM Plant all the way to where the old gas station was located by the highway. Unfortunately, the photo is pieced together from different photography sessions. But it's still interesting to look at, especially after seeing the vintage photographs of Old Lake Road that I posted yesterday.

Anyway, it's always fun to do a little mind traveling and explore the old highways without leaving the comfort of your house.

Special thanks to Bob Kovach for sharing his story and photos

Lorain Crystal Ice Company – Part 5

A few days after the conclusion of my series on the Lorain Crystal Ice Company, I received an email from Bob Kovach, who has generously contributed many great photos and reminisces to this blog over the years.

Bob has an interesting connection with the Lorain Crystal Ice Company. He wrote, "I have some pictures of the concrete plant that was across from the ice house. I helped tear down the concrete plant in the early 80's while working out of the old ice house for the Sewer Dept."

(As I mentioned on my post, Lorain Crystal Ice Company became Lorain Ready Mixed Concrete in the late 1950s, and the city acquired the property in the 1970s.)

Bob was not only kind enough to share his photos, but he also prepared some special graphics to document the layout of the ice house and the concrete plant, and where they were located relative to the road leading down to Hot Waters.

Here's his map of the area (below).

Bob Kovach's Map showing the layout of the ice house of the former
Lorain Crystal Ice Company, as well as the company's cement plant 

Regarding the ice house, Bob explained, "The only section I can say for sure of being part of the ice house was the first section that was on your left as you drove down the hill towards Hot Waters. It was a huge open area with walls lined with cork. By this time, the cork was deteriorating and falling off. The water dept used it to store cold patch. It did not have a connecting doorway to the next area. 

Compare this photo with Bob's map and explanation at left
to understand the layout of the building

"The next area was not insulated. It had an old wooden staircase that went up to the area with the old wooden barn doors. We could never go up there because the floor for that room was rotting away. The Sewer dept used it to store misc equipment and it did have a door connecting it to the next room. There were some sections in this room that were once lined with wood and behind the wood there was sand. Insulation maybe? Connected by a doorway the next room was a large open area were Sewer Department trucks were kept. The rest of it was just really old block wall rooms."

Next, Bob described what he remembered about the cement plant.

He wrote, "Now about the cement plant. In 1985, the Sewer Dept. was assigned the task of tearing down the structure. I believe that cinder block and possibly red brick were also made there because of the drying kilns and also many broken bags of red colorant of some sort. There was a ladder that went way above the whole structure. Why, I don't know – but you could see way out over the lake."

Here are Bob's photos of the cement plant. The oldest shot (showing the ladder) is from 1973 and the demolition shots are from 1985.

1973 view of cement works

Cement plant loading docks

Cement Works

Cement Works

Cement Works

Cement Works

Control Room

Amazingly, Bob even prepared a special aerial shot of the whole area with labels. I asked him where he got the photo and was surprised by his answer. Bob replied, "I use to rent out a plane and pilot from the flight school at the county airport a few times a year back then. That's what I did for fun!"

Here is Bob's vintage aerial shot of the whole Hot Waters area. You won't find this on Bing Maps!

Bob concluded, "I hope that between my description and map you get a little better idea of how it was set up down there. Wish I took more pictures back then but I am so glad I took what I did."

I am too, Bob – and thanks for sharing and making the story of the Lorain Crystal Ice Company more complete!

Eagle Nest Revisited

Earlier in the week, I featured stories by a few of the great people who, year after year, share their research and findings with me so that it can appear on the blog. (In fact, both of them are hard at work on new topics that will show up here soon.)

So it’s only fitting to close out the week with a nod to another longtime blog contributor (and all around nice guy), Bob Kovach.  A few weeks ago, Bob contacted me about his front row seat when it comes to the eagle nest located near the Philip Q. Maiorana Wastewater Treatment Plant (that I wrote about here). 

You see, Bob works at the PQM Plant and is well aware of how popular the eagle nest is to photographers. "I regularly see people taking pictures out there,” he noted.

"I probably watched you taking pictures and didn't even know it was you!”

Bob couldn’t resist taking a few photos of the nest’s occupants himself, and sent me these two terrific photos. It’s hard to believe these are Lorain eagles!

Bob has contributed several great posts here over the years. 

On one of my personal favorite posts of all time, Bob took us on a tour (here) of the old U. S. Route 6 alignment that goes through the woods (near the PQM Plant) just south of the present 4-lane highway. He provided reminisces and photos of the Lorain Crystal Ice building here; shared some ultra-rare photos of the old Lorain City Airport buildings here; produced a photo of Aviator Bill Long’s Ercoupe here; provided some background information about an old Oberlin Avenue farmhouse here; and sent copies of rare memorabilia, including vintage coal bills and a Canada Dry Bottling Company of Lorain letter. And that’s not even everything; type “Bob Kovach” in the search box and you’ll see.

As recently as a few days ago, Bob suggested an update to this week's post on flying boats, which you can read here.

Thanks, Bob!

1971 Plane Crash on Skyline Drive

Bob Kovach sent me this newspaper clipping last year of something I remember very well from my childhood days on Skyline Drive: the day a plane unexpectedly nosedived in the field right next to our home. It appears below just as it ran in the Lorain Journal on Monday, August 30, 1971.

Plane Misses Homes, Nosedives into Lorain Field
By PAM ROBINSON
Staff Writer

A SINGLE-ENGINED Cessna 150 dipped out of the sky over Lorain yesterday narrowly missing several homes on heavily-populated Skyline Drive east before nosediving into a vacant lot.

Instead of a tragedy, it turned out with a "believe-it-or-not" twist. Pilot Isom Elrod, 49, of North Ridgeville wasn't hurt. His only ailment, compressed air sickness – commonly known as "the bends."

He is listed in fair condition at Elyria Memorial Hospital.

Last week a similar plane malfunction ended in tragedy. Two people were killed when a twin-engined plane crashed into a house in Fairview Park, shortly after takeoff from Cleveland Hopkins airport.

POLICE SAID Elrod, who lives at 7420 Root Road in North Ridgeville, told them the plane developed engine trouble while he was on a practice flight from Lorain City Airport. When he tried to make a landing in the field the aircraft hit a boulder, causing the nose to burrow into the ground. Elrod said he was following his son, Jack, 16, who had just landed at the airport in another Cessna.

James Smith, 4002 Marshall Ave., Lorain, said he heard the engine fail when the plane was over his house.

Carl Travee, 47, 2110 Skyline Drive, Lorain was sitting on his porch when the accident occurred.

"I noticed it was coming in awful low and then I saw its propeller wasn't even turning," he said. "I ran over to the field (at the corner of Temple Court and Skyline Drive) and propped the man (Elrod) up and asked him if he was hurt. He said no, he didn't think so."

"Some kid came by and sped down to the fire station (at the corner of Meister and Leavitt roads) to get an ambulance," Travee added.

The owner of the vacant lot, Leo Dembek, 63, of 3507 Leavitt Road, Lorain, said gas was leaking from the plane's wing when he arrived.

Dembek also said that this was the fourth crash in the area since he bought the land in 1945.

Elrod was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, Lorain immediately after the crash, checked out for injuries, then moved to the Elyria Hospital, nearer to his North Ridgeville home.

Officials at St. Joseph said Elrod's illness was caused by coming down from a high altitude too rapidly. Usually "bends" sufferers are associated with underwater or tunnel accidents.

Elrod is employed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lewis Research Center in Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it is planning an investigation of the crash.

****

The article brings back a lot of memories for me. We were eating dinner in the basement on that Sunday in August to keep cool if I remember correctly, because when we heard the crash we had to go upstairs to see what happened. I remember running over there along with everyone else to see the plane. It was surprising, but not so much considering that planes flew over our house all the time since it was on the approach to the Lorain City Airport.

The gentleman that my family referred to as "the farmer" – Leo Dembek – is mentioned in the article, and it's probably the first time we ever knew his name. As I mentioned back here, we could see his farm house from our dining room window.

The area shown in the photo bordered by Skyline Drive and Temple Avenue is lined with homes today. 

Thanks again to Bob Kovach for saving that article and sending me a scan of it.

1972 Lorain City Airport Photos

Here's a few more photos from our blog buddy Bob Kovach. He had already sent me the photo of Bill Long's Ercoupe a few days ago that I posted at the end of the article on Mr. Long. Now Bob has dug into his photo collection again and come up with two more gems.

Above is a nice shot of the Lorain City Airport hangar from July 1972. Remember that windsock? And the words LORAIN on the roof?

And below is a photo from September 1972 of the other building on the property – what a great shot. Who knows – this might be the only known photograph of it!

The Lorain City Airport was a big part of Bob's life while he was growing up, since he lived on Mark Drive, which was right across from it. Bob remembers Mr. Long too.

As Bob tells it, "I can remember one time speaking to him over by the white building that was at the airport. Mostly I remember his beard! I also remember many times us kids playing outside when his little plane would fly low and slow overhead. We would all start waving our arms and sure enough he would tilt the wings up and down as he passed by. I think he looked forward to us being out there."

What a great reminisce – thanks for sharing it and the photos, Bob!

More on that 1910 Oberlin Avenue Farmhouse

The view a few weeks ago

I was hoping that someone would have some information about that 1910 farmhouse on Oberlin Avenue (next to the Croatian Club) that I wrote about (here) in late January. I had no idea that the someone would be Bob Kovach, who has contributed many an interesting comment on this blog over the years.

It turns out that Bob's father grew up in that house in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

As Bob wrote in an email, "My father remembers the property had a large barn and many small sheds for housing all types of animals such as pigs, chickens, goats and rabbits. He also remembers the house was divided in two, and that a Mrs. Barry lived in the other side."

That makes sense, since the listing of the house in the 1954 Lorain County Farm & Rural Directory showed two tenants: Mrs. Anna Retay (who would continue to live there until the late 1980s) and G.D. Varney.

Bob noted that his father and his brother would ride the bus to Clearview School from there. He also added, "One other bit of information was that the property went all the way back into the Seven Pines area."

Thanks very much to Bob and his father for revealing some of this interesting house's history.

Vintage Coal Bills

It's funny that although the Zboray Coal ad that I posted recently was originally just a filler, it seems to have kindled (or stoked, if you prefer) some readers' memories, and generated some interesting emails.

Longtime blog contributor Bob Kovach (who has provided me with many great photos and reminisces over the years) contacted me recently and sent me some scans of some great vintage records relating to Lorain coal orders (shown below).

Bob wrote, "I thought you might get a kick out of these. About twenty some years ago, I was hired to clean some old file cabinets out of a basement on Broadway. They were filled with a wealth of information about old Lorain as far back as the turn of the century.

"They were files from a very old law firm in Lorain, forgotten for decades I imagine. The sad thing is I had thrown a lot out before I finally took a good look at what they were. Luckily, I managed to hold on to quite a bit of history."

We’re lucky that Bob saved these, as I'm sure that in 2017 there aren't too many of these things floating around anymore. Thanks for sharing (as usual), Bob!

Benoist Flying Boats & the Lorain Hydro and Aero Co.

Today’s blog post is brought to you by local historian Rick Kurish, a longtime contributor to this blog who has suggested many great topic ideas over the years. Rick is always researching things of interest, and willing to share his findings as well.

In his article, Rick takes a brief look at Benoist Flying Boats, as well as the Lorain Hydro and Aero Company.

****

Some time ago I came across the online photographs of Ernst Niebergall, a photographer working in Sandusky in the early 1900s. While the collection contains many interesting photographs, my attention was captured by a photo of an airplane taken on the beach at Cedar Point in the summer of 1914. 

The caption was "Benoist Flying Boat Owned by Lorain Hydro and Aero Company.” 

And here are two more Ernst Niebergall photos from the same collection, and with the same caption. 

Since I'd never heard of a Benoist Flying Boat or the Lorain Hydro and Aero Company, I couldn’t resist a little research. What I found was quite interesting. 

It turns out that Thomas W. Benoist was an early pioneer in both aviation design and business. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and within a few years of the Wright Brothers’ flight, he was building and flying planes in St. Louis. 

1912 ad in “Aero and Hydro"

“In an aviation career of only ten years, he formed the world’s first aircraft parts distribution company, established one of the leading American aircraft manufacturing companies and a successful flying school, and from January to April 1914 operated the world’s first scheduled airline,” according to this Wiki entry.

He eventually became interested in “flying boats,” and along with his chief pilot Tony Jannus, developed one capable of transatlantic flight. Since the Roberts Motor Company of Sandusky, Ohio was Benoist’s preferred source for his aircraft engines, he moved his company there in June 1916. Sandusky Bay was also a perfect body of water to test his designs. 

Here’s the newspaper article announcing the move to Sandusky by the Benoist Aeroplane company.

Unfortunately, just at the time his business was stating to take off, he was killed in a tragic streetcar accident in Sandusky. 

The Sandusky Star - Journal of June 14, 1917 has a long article about his death. At the time of his passing, Benoist's airplane designs were drawing interest from the U.S. Government for potential use in World War I. 

The Sandusky papers have several articles on his meetings with the government, including one in which government officials were to come to Sandusky just a week after his death.

Despite articles which speculated that Sandusky could become to airplane manufacturing what Detroit was to the automobile industry, his company died shortly after his death. His family sold the business, which was moved out of Sandusky. The company wasn’t mature enough to survive the loss of its creator and visionary leader. 

The accomplishments of Thomas W. Benoist are well documented on the internet, and include the fact that he operated the first passenger airline in the U.S. This was a passenger service between the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg in Florida. The flight took 20 minutes and cost 5 dollars. 

His achievements in aviation were also honored on a U.S. postage stamp, which depicted his flying boat. The stamp was issued as part of Transportation Series issued between 1990 and 1994.

So what was the connection between Thomas Benoist and the Lorain Hydro and Aero Company? 

The tie-in was that Lorain Hydro and Aero purchased two Benoist Flying Boats, and in 1915 flew exhibitions at Cedar Point. The company also flew passengers from Sandusky to Cedar Point. 

The Lorain Hydro and Aero Company was the brainstorm of Lorain businessman J. E. Pepin, who circa 1910 to 1917 was the manager of the Citizen’s Loan and Trust Company located at 552 Broadway in Lorain. An article in the Chronicle-Telegram of November 7, 1914 (below) announced the organization of the company with Pepin as president. 

J. E. Pepin seems to have been a rather interesting character. An article in the Sandusky Register on March 1, 1919 indicates that after the Lorain Hydro and Aero company, Pepin moved to Detroit and eventually enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I. After many daring exploits in France, he was apparently using something like hypnotism to cure shell shock cases in a hospital. 

C. Ray Benedict was the regular aviator for the Lorain Hydro and Aero Company. An article in his hometown newspaper, the Binghamton Press on September 1, 1915 details his activities during the summer of 1915, when the Lorain Hydro and Aero Co. had the concession for Cedar Point. 

Another article indicted that the residents of Lorain were treated to an air show in the summer of 1917 when the Anderegg brothers were testing a hydroplane they were purchasing from the Lorain Hydro and Aero Company. The company had gone out of business at that point and had sold its last ‘machines’ to the Anderegg brothers. The article notes that the company had its headquarters near Broadway and 9th Street.

****

As a sideline to the articles about the Benoist Aircraft company, here is another interesting article. It centers around a woman flyer named Alys McKey Bryant who worked for the Benoist company in Sandusky. The article was published as she prepared to leave Sandusky after Benoist’s death in 1917.

While working for the company, Alys McKey Bryant was the factory supervisor, mechanic, and flight instructor. Quite a resume for a woman circa 1917. 

Courtesy Wikipedia

There is a great article about her, including several photos, in the Ohio's Yesterdays series published online by the Rutherford B. Hays Presidential Library and Museum. It is well worth reading. Here is the link.

****

UPDATE (May 14, 2020)
A longtime contributor to this blog reminded me in an email that there is another Lorain connection to the ‘flying boat’ topic discussed here today. In an email, Bob Kovach noted, "Lorain's own Bill Long was also connected to the flying boat scene. 

“He also flew people back and forth to Cedar Point.

"Bill Long also restored one of those sea planes then donated it to the Crawford Auto Museum for display,” observed Bob. "Unfortunately, around 2010 it was auctioned off to a private collector for over $500,000 dollars.”

Here is that 1917 Curtiss MF 'Seagull' Hydroaeroplane that was formerly owned by Bill Long.

As stated on the Bonhams.com auction website, "Records are sketchy, but it appears that A-5543 had a single owner, William H. Long, who was the owner and longtime operator of the Lorain, Ohio airport. 

"Long is said to have based the MF at Sandusky Bay, from which he made frequent trips to Cedar Point Amusement Park, presumably flying joyriders and sightseers.”

Here’s another photo of the plane at the time of the 2010 auction, courtesy of the Financial Times website.

The website noted, "It was... the prize-winning American aviator Glen H Curtiss who perfected early flying boat design and his “F” model of around 1913 was adopted by the US Navy. The Curtiss MF (for “Modernised F model”) on offer here dates from 1917 and is a rare survivor among more than 80 of its type that were in service with the navy until the early 1920s. 

"Many MFs were sold off by the navy after the war, and it is thought that this former training aircraft was bought by William H Long, one-time owner of Lorain airport, who based it at Sandusky Bay, Ohio, and used it for ferrying sightseers to the nearby Cedar Point amusement park. The plane was last refurbished in 1945 before being donated to a car and aircraft museum in Cleveland, after which it went on display at Ohio’s Western Reserve Historical Society. In recent years, the MF has been in storage but is said to be in “remarkably good order.”

Anyway, Bob also sent me the photo below, which he found among some discarded items behind the old Lorain City Airport on Leavitt Road. (Bob lived nearby and even remembers Bill Long personally.)

Bob believes the photo (which is labeled only “Nov 4”) is of Bill Long’s flying boat.

As usual, thanks for sharing, Bob!

****

By the way, in this 1959 interview with Bill Long, one of the bearded aviator’s prized collectibles that was stored at the airport was the wooden propeller to the Curtiss flying boat.

Christmas Ads – 1950

Well, it’s Christmas week. Let’s start the celebration by taking a look at some ads from the pages of the Lorain Journal in December 1950, and get a taste of the city of seventy years ago. 

Speaking of taste, wine was – and still is – a great gift for many people. This ad for Stone’s Grills (I’m not sure why it's plural) is fun to look at, with many old-time brands listed, including E & K Wines, Virginia Dare, Golden West Wines and Duff-Gordon Imported Wines. (By the way, Francis Ford Coppola literally brought the Virginia Dare Wine brand back to life in 2014, which you can read about here and here.)

I wrote about Stone’s Grill a few times, including this post about the Helfrich Building, and this January 1950 ad.

The other ad with a wine theme is for Zim’s, advertised as “Lorain’s Leading Beer & Wine Stores.” 

‘Zim’ was Willard B. Zimmerman. I like how the ‘Z’ makes up the body of the little mascot. The ad lists two store locations, 1247 Broadway and 1762 E. 28th Street. (I suspect that the ad has a typo or two, because the 1950 city directory had the two locations as 747 Broadway and 1246 Broadway in both the alphabetical, as well as the street-by-street listings).

If you preferred to enjoy your spirits in a comfortable bar setting, then this ad for the well-known Lincoln Park Nite Club would have been of interest.

Of course, Lincoln Park Nite Club and the various bars at that location have been the subject of many posts here on the blog.

Switching over to non-booze-related ads, here’s one for Lee Furniture. It has a particularly nice sentiment.

The company was owned by Joseph and Carl Lepon, and was located at 453 Broadway.

Here’s one for Bazely Cash Market, the subject of this 2017 post. (I guess they didn’t barter or take IOUs)

And I’ve written about Central Bank (whose one forlorn, lonely pillar still stands on Broadway) many times.

Here’s one for a business that I’ve never mentioned before on the blog. It’s a full-page ad for Agnes Kay Ladies Specialty Shop at 433 Broadway. The business was established by Agnes Kay Webber on Sept. 4, 1947 and featured a bridal salon for outfitting all members of the bridal party.

The business moved to 436 Broadway in the early 1960s; it closed around 1966 and its location on Broadway became the Downtown Lorain home of Faroh’s Candies.

The next ad is an interesting one. It’s for a WTAM radio broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” starring Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge. The local sponsor for the show as indicated in the ad was James Renker & Son Plumbing & Heating.

Lionel Barrymore, as we all remember, played the evil Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. But did you know that an imitation of his voice was used for the diabolical mad scientist Simon Bar Sinister on the cartoon series Underdog?

The last ad is for Hart’s, a jewelry company that has provided me wth some offbeat, but memorable, posts over the years. Remember the ad with the Marilyn Monroe lookalike? The Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshall Set? The creepy ‘panda doll' that looked like a genetic mistake? The leggy Scottish lassie? All were found in ads for Hart’s.

This time out, the highlight of the ad is the 24” high “Magic Skin” 5 Voice Doll, an exclusive PARO creation.

As the ad notes, “Just squeeze her little right arm and SHE CRIES. Touch her cute, dimpled right leg and SHE SIGHS. Pinch her chubby left arm and SHE CRIES AGAIN. Squeeze her adorable left leg and SHE WAILS. Turn her over on your knee and SHE CRIES LIKE A BABEE.”

Sick, man, sick. This is worse than Ol’ Lanky Long! (Throw him! Drop him! Toss him!)

According to the ad, she has 5 different voices, moving eyes, rubber arms and legs, rose rubber panties, a full size petticoat (what’s that?), Ninon dress & bonnet, lace trimmed shoes and socks.

As usual, I tried to find a photo online of an existing doll – although after all the pinching and squeezing committed in the name of fun, I was doubtful that any doll would still be around with its limbs intact to cry and wail today.

I could be wrong, but this doll currently on Ebay (listed as 22” tall) kind of looks like one.

If you look closely at the doll in the Hart's ad, you can see the raised ridges of the hair on its left temple, similar to the Ebay doll.

I feel like buying the doll just to see if I can get it to make some kind of noise!

At least any abuse or torture dished out to my G. I. Joe "doll” (or action figure, if you prefer) when I was a kid was all in the name of war.

****

UPDATE (December 26, 2020)

Longtime contributor and all around good guy Bob Kovach solved my little mystery as to why the ad for Stone’s Grill at the top of this post had the name of the business as plural (as in Stone’s Grills).

Bob wrote, "Yesterday I was looking around eBay and I came across an old Stone's Grill match book. I figured I purchase it for a very good friend of mine, whose father owned the Stone's Grill on Broadway. 

Anyways, when I looked at the pictures I noticed that there were many Stones Grills!” 

Inside of matchbook

Bob continued. " I'm going to ask my buddy about it because he always talks about the place, and I even did some work on the building for him some years ago when he still owned it. So it was really neat this morning when I started to read your article about Christmas ads, and saw that you wondered why it was plural.”

"So I thought to myself, 'I can answer that for Dan!’”

And I’m glad he did. Thanks, Bob!