Captain Aaron Root House – Down at Last

The view on Wednesday morning

The house that was once the home of Captain Aaron Root finally came tumbling down on Tuesday night.

As I drove home that night on Route 611 and approached the intersection with Abbe Road, I saw a large, reddish cloud of dust and dirt hovering above the ground – so I knew that the demolition team was hard at work. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera.

All was quiet when I passed it on Wednesday morning. But when I went by it again Wednesday night on my way home, the property was again teeming with activity. I had to drive by a few times just to grab a few usable shots (below).

It's too bad that one of the oldest homes in Lorain County had to go, but at least I had the opportunity (along with several others) to satisfy my morbid curiosity and run amuck in the house before it was taken down.

Plus, I have my souvenirs – a brick from one of the fireplaces and my Donald Duck bubble pipe.

***
Update
All the trees are down (below) in this photo taken on Saturday, June 21.

Grand Opening of Baetz Dairy Bar – June 10, 1949

Several years ago I did a whole blog series about the former Lorain Area skating rink when it was for sale. The property eventually sold, including the distinctive building in front with the curved corner.

Today the building is known as being part of the former Kerr Beverage property, but it started out as the home of Baetz Dairy Bar, an offshoot of Lorain's Baetz Dairy. The ad above from the Lorain Journal announces the Grand Opening on June 10, 1949 – 65 years ago this month.

My mother remembers getting ice cream there in the 1950s.

September 1949 ad

The Dairy Bar became part of the Lorain Arena complex in 1955, and later housed the Arena Restaurant, as well as a few other businesses (which you can read about here).

I drove past it this past weekend to see if the building had undergone any changes since Rockwell Metals Company LLC purchased it. The new owners have a small sign up, but otherwise it looks the same. It's still a great looking building with a lot of style.

The view this past weekend

Overlook Road in Vermilion – Then & Now

Last week I did my much delayed post about Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House in Vermilion that included several vintage photos sent to me by Jim Bearden.

I held one of them back – the one shown above. It's a view of Overlook Road looking north from the Fior restaurant property circa 1950. As Jim observed, "I thought it was a cool shot since it was before the Vermilion On-The-Lake development was completed."

I thought it was pretty neat too, and drove out there this past weekend to grab my "now" shot (below).

In case you're wondering, I couldn't quite determine if the house beyond the tracks in the 1950 photo is still there today. There's a few candidates, but it's pretty hard to tell.

Walter A. Frey Funeral Home Open House - June 15, 1958

I've written about Walter A. Frey Funeral Home a few times.

Back here, I did a "then and now" feature on the building using a photo from a 1945 ad, and back here, I mentioned the home as being the former home of Lorain Mayor George Wickens.

Above is an ad that ran in the Lorain Journal announcing an Open House of the newly redecorated building on June 15, 1958 – 56 years ago yesterday.

Every guest that took the tour of the new building received a free gift. I wonder what it was?

Anyway, it's great to see two of Lorain's oldest businesses – Walter A. Frey Funeral Home and Muzik Brothers side by side on U. S. 6 next to Lorain City Hall.

Top Value Stamp Ad – June 15, 1960

Back here, I waxed nostalgic (whatever that means) about Top Value Stamps, one of the original customer loyalty rewards programs. Well, here's another ad for the trading stamp enterprise that ran in the Lorain Journal on June 15, 1960.

Besides featuring good ol' Toppie the Elephant, the ad is interesting because it lists the addresses of the various redemption centers, including addresses in Elyria and Lakewood. I tried to figure out where the Elyria redemption center was, but that address – 2023 Lake Avenue – seems to have disappeared. It's not on the Auditor website and it's unGooglable.

I'm guessing that Mom must have picked up our Toppie lunchbox at Krogers.

Speaking of Toppie, I found an undated image of him that looks pretty different from the familiar version shown in the 1960 ad. The tin sign (below), which is listed on Hake's is undated.

Here's a closeup of Toppie.

So it's either an early version of the friendly pachyderm, or an image of him all grown up with an appropriate middle age spread.

Captain Penny visits Shoreway Shopping Center - June 1959

It was June 12, 1959 – 55 years ago today – when good ol' Captain Penny made a personal appearance at Shoreway Shopping Center in my current town of Sheffield Lake.

Thousands of local Baby Boomers (including my siblings and me) looked forward to watching Captain Penny – Ron Penfound in real life – daily on WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland. According to this entry on the online Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, he hosted his daily show from 1955 until 1971. The various segments of his show, such as Pooch Parade (which featured animals that could be adopted) and visits from Jungle Larry still live on in our collective memories.

Then there was the Captain's great mixture of TV cartoons (such as Roger Ramjet) and old movie shorts (such as the Little Rascals, and the Three Stooges – Larry, Curly and Moe, as the Captain uniquely listed them).

Ron Penfound also did some announcing for the Cleveland Indians in the late 60s and early 70s. Once, we saw him at the Stadium before a game (we were there using our free tickets from the Cleveland Press for getting all A's). Even though he was wearing a sport coat and tie, we recognized him immediately, and were just as thrilled as if we had seen Hawk Harrelson.

It's funny thinking back how these hosts of local children's shows such as Captain Penny, Barnaby, Woodrow the Woodsman, etc. shaped a kid's view of grownups. They were, in effect, babysitters – people that were part of our lives almost daily that addressed us directly from their TV perch.

Captain Penny was probably the most normal. He was kind and gentle, never goofy, and careful to remind us not to imitate the Three Stooges. Memorably, he always signed off with his great closing line: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't... fool... Mom!" It's probably why Mom didn't mind us watching him all the time.

Kids sure don't have any equivalent influences on TV today, that's for sure.

St. Anthony's New Church Bldg Dedication Ad – June 11, 1960

Here's the ad announcing the dedication of the new St. Anthony of Padua church building and rectory. The ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 11, 1960.

The St. Anthony congregation on Lorain's east side dates back to 1923.

Of course we all remember how in late October 2012 the church's roof was blown off by Superstorm Sandy. St. Anthony School classes were moved to St. Thomas on Harris Road in Sheffield Lake until the roof was repaired. The students returned on January 28, 2013.

Here's the church building as it looks today.

I'm not Catholic, but I've long admired this church's beautiful campus, as well as the congregation's longevity and the important role it plays in the life of so many Lorainites.