Memorial Day in the Golden Crescent – 1967

Although Memorial Day has long been celebrated as the last Monday in May, for almost a century (from 1868 to 1971) it was observed on May 30th.

Thus back in 1967, Memorial Day took place on Tuesday, May 30th. On the following day, the Lorain Journal presented the above full-page article and collection of photos highlighting the celebration around the Golden Crescent, which spanned from Norwalk to Avon Lake.

Photos include Lorain’s Memorial Day Parade, as well as the parades in Avon Lake, Sheffield Lake, LaGrange and Wellington. The Memorial Day ceremony at Pittsfield’s monument was highlighted, as it had only been two years since the community had been destroyed by the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado. Avon’s ceremony at the cemetery at Detroit Road and what is now State Route 83 was also featured.

Contributing photographers included Norm Bergsma, Gene Patrick, Ed Shulik, Bob Thomas and Virginia Willard.

Pittsfield Civil War Monument Dedication Date Resolved

Thanks to Jeff Sigsworth, I now have a confirmed date for the dedication of Pittsfield's Civil War Monument (shown above).

You might remember that back here, I told how I was having trouble finding any mention of the dedication of the monument in a newspaper. The Lorain County Historical Society's online history of the monument says it was erected on August 13, 1894, but I was unable to find any article connected with that date in the available newspapers.

I feel it's important to get these historical dates right and on record – before it's too late.

Fortunately, Jeff left a comment on my original Palm Sunday Tornado 50th Anniversary post saying that he had seen an article that had the date as August 12, 1896.

As it turns out, that date was correct (well, maybe one day off). The Lorain County Reporter of August 8, 1896 included the following information in the paper's section on Pittsfield:

"The Lorain county soldiers' and sailors' reunion will take place at Pittsfield, Thursday, Aug. 13th, and from present indications will be one of the best occasions ever held at this place. The citizens of Pittsfield extend a hearty and cordial invitation to all to come by on that day and help us dedicate our monument and enjoy the occasion with us. Following is the program: Business meeting and election of officers; address of welcome; response; dinner; dedication of monument at 1 p. m. by G. A. R.; oration, Col. Winship, of Cleveland; short address by comrades. Plenty of music all day."

From the Lorain County Reporter of August 8, 1896

Apparently, the dedication ceremony had a top-notch speaker in Col. Winship, who had fought during the first battle of Bull Run as a member of Company A, Fifth Maine Infantry. After the war, he maintained a large general law office in Cleveland.

History of the Republican Party in Ohio Vol. II (1898) includes an extensive biography of him. In the book he is described as "a natural-born orator and versatile speaker." The book also notes, "Colonel Winship never fails to inspire enthusiasm in his audience; he is a fluent and eloquent speaker, and by his logic, wit, sarcasm and pathos, all reinforced by a well disciplined and cultivated mind, stored with wide and varied knowledge, he carries conviction to his bearers and maintains a position in the front rank of political orators."

Special thanks to Jeff Sigsworth for his help with the date of the dedication.

50th Anniversary of Pittsfield Tornado Commemorative Program

The scene outside the Pittsfield Town Hall Saturday afternoon

On Saturday, I managed to make it down to Pittsfield for the event sponsored by the Pittsfield Township Historical Society commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado. It was held at the Town Hall at Routes 58 and 303. I knew it was going to be a big event, because the parking lot was already packed when my mother and I arrived, a half-hour before the scheduled start.

The Pittsfield Township Historical Society put on an ambitious program. First was the dedication of a plaque (at right) outside the Hall, honoring those who died during the tornado. The church bell at the nearby Pittsfield Community Church solemnly tolled once as the speaker finished reading each victim's biography.

Next, a documentary produced by Wellington High School students was shown, in which Pittsfield tornado survivors were interviewed about what they remembered from that fateful day. The short film was followed by an entertaining presentation by Roger Pickenpaugh, author of "Night of the Wicked Winds," in which he told the story of the Palm Sunday tornadoes.

As the program drew to a close, people that lived through the tornado and had a story to tell were invited to share it with the crowd in the well-packed room. Some of the survivors still had difficulty talking about it 50 years later, and their stories were punctuated with tears and sobs. For many of the people, the tornado was the defining event of their lives.

Hearing the recollections of the survivors, and the stories of how everyone pulled together to help each other in the hours after the tornado, really drove home the feeling of community that the Pittsfield Township residents share.

Lastly, some rare clips from home movies showing tornado damage were shown to end the program.

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Before the program started, there were tables set up around the room with displays of photos of the tornado damage, as well as yellowing newspapers from the days following the disaster. So I joined the line of people slowly moving past each table, studying each artifact and document.

At one point, I looked down at an old Chronicle-Telegram with an article about a woman who – after the tornado had struck her house – had ended up in a ditch on Route 303, buried under several feet of debris until one of her sons found her. She lived through the ordeal, but was unable to walk after that.

The gentleman next to me saw me reading the article, and pointed to it. "That was my mother," he told me matter-of-factly.

In an instant, I imagined my own mother in such a horrible situation. All I could say to him was, "I'm so sorry."

Pittsfield Tornado Damage Wire Photo

Well, the big 50th anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado is this Saturday, so I thought I'd post this great aerial photo of the intersection of Routes 58 and 303 taken a few days after the disaster. The aerial photo (from the Columbus Dispatch) appeared on www.pinterest.com, by way of i.imgur.com.

The Associated Press wirephoto is interesting because it shows the crop marks done as a guide for the camera/stripping department of a newspaper – meaning the photo is from a collection of old newspaper photos.

Pittsfield Township Historical Society is holding a dedication ceremony at the Township Hall on Saturday, April 11 at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There will be a plaque dedication, refreshments, artifacts and stories. There are also special guests that are scheduled to appear, as well as newly found historical recordings.

Anyway, here's the aerial view of the same area today (below), courtesy of Bing Maps.

Pittsfield Civil War Statue

It was sunny (but freezing) on Saturday morning, so I jumped in the car first thing and headed down Route 58 to Pittsfield. I wanted a nice photo of the Civil War monument with the morning sun hitting it, seeing as I had just written about it on Friday.

As you can see, there was a lot more snow in that part of the county than what we had up by the lake in Sheffield Lake. It was up to the top of my shoes as I slogged across the grounds to get this shot.

It was nice to get a close look at the statue (below). You can still see the seams where it was damaged by the tornado and then repaired. The brim of his Civil War kepi hat, though, looks like it's been through, well, a war.

I suspect that with the official 50th anniversary of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornado coming up on April 11, Pittsfield will be visited by a few TV news crews.

Sunday was a nice day too, so I went back for another shot. The clouds were a little more interesting this time (below) and the shadows deeper.

To read about the history of the statue, click here to visit the Historic Landmarks page of the Lorain County Historical Society's website.

However, I'm confused about the date that the monument was dedicated. One history of the statue states that it's been there since 1898, and another says 1896. According to the Lorain County Historical Society's website, it was dedicated on August 13, 1894.

I checked the two available newspapers on microfilm at the Elyria Public Library (the Elyria Republican and the Elyria Democrat) for that August 1894 time period and couldn't find a mention in either one about the dedication. (Granted, the type is pretty small in those hard-to-read microfilm versions.) 

Perhaps some Pittsfield historian in the know will leave a comment.

1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes

The front page of the Journal the next day

Palm Sunday is this weekend, and for many people, the Sunday before Easter always brings back bad memories of 1965. For it was on Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965 – 50 years ago next month – that an outbreak of 47 deadly tornadoes struck the Midwest, including Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. 271 people were killed (60 in Ohio) and 1500 were injured.

The front page of the April 12, 1965 Journal is shown above.

In Lorain County, eighteen people died. Pittsfield was practically wiped off the map, and nine people loss their lives there. It's still impossible to drive through Pittsfield on Route 58 and not think of the devastation that the small community suffered.

Here's the continuation from page 1 of the April 12, 1965 Journal. It includes a well-written article by Lou Kepler about the damage at Pittsfield.

Here's a small article from the Plain Dealer from April 19, 1965 about how Pittsfield was beginning to rebuild a week after the disaster. It's interesting that the Civil War statue was the first priority.

A year after the deadly tornado, the Plain Dealer published an article by James L. Grisso (below) that explained some of the improved weather warning devices that were now in use. The article also included a few great photos, including one of Pittsfield's damaged Civil War monument and an update on the community since the disaster.

April 3, 1966 article from the Plain Dealer

The 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes only reinforced my childhood fear of tornadoes (that had already been nurtured with tales of the one that struck Lorain in 1924).