Thursday, January 2, 2020

First Babies of 1970

Fifty years ago today, the headline of the Lorain Journal screamed "4-Foot Snow Isolates Dakota’s Black Hills.” The article stated, “The BLACK HILLS of South Dakota were buried under four feet of snow today with more falling at the rate of 1 1/2 inches an hour.

“The South Dakota Highway Patrol said all roads in the Lead-Deadwood area were blocked and there was “no travel possible.””

Also on the front page, the Journal identified all of the ‘first babies’ of 1970.

As noted in the article below, a Vermilion couple – Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Bohl – had the honor of being the parents of Ohio’s first baby (John Lee Bohl)  of the new year and the new decade. John Lee was born at Amherst Hospital.


But as for the Journal’s contest, the first baby born at St. Joseph Hospital in Lorain was the one that would get all the neat prizes. And that baby was Robert Wheeler – son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wheeler of 4431 Stoney Ridge Road, Avon. Mr. Wheeler was in the Navy and stationed in Jacksonville, Florida.
Even back then, the Journal covered a wide area of Northeast Ohio and thus included the first babies at Elyria Hospital (Terri Lynn, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Hampton of Strongsville), Fisher-Titus Hospital in Norwalk (a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johannsen), Huron County (a daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Montgomery of North Fairfield) and Erie County (Margo Renee Powers, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Powers of Castalia).

Hopefully all of the above celebrity babies are enjoying their 50th birthdays today. Happy Birthday and Happy New Year to all of them!