Saturday, February 28, 2009

Big Bear

In the latest edition of Bend of the River (March 2009) is a picture of the Big Bear Supermarket that was located in the basement of the Lane's Drug Store at the corner of Sylvania and Westway. Thought this might bring back more memories of the Big Bear store.

-- Cindy Baer Jazwiecki DHS 1960

Friday, February 27, 2009

Sara Kennedy Cannon

My current email address will no longer be valid in a few days.  My new address is   sjcannon@bex.net.

-- sara kennedy cannon   DHS 1960

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Nancy Jeffries Samp

Really enjoy your emails, Dave. Keep them coming!

-- Nancy Jeffries Samp [mailto:jsamp@npgcable.com]

Sue Radabaugh-Alexander

I have a new email address. It is similar to my last one. I had to delete the other address because it became compromised and overloaded with spam! Please forward my new address to our 1960s classmates. I deeply
appreciate your assistance.

-- sucitysu2009@yahoo.com Sue Radabaugh-Alexander

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Martin Adler

Dave, Martin Adler (from Whittier - I'm not sure about DeVilbiss), at m-l-adler@yahoo.com, would like to be added to the DeVilbiss list. He lives in Colorado now. Thanks.
-- Bill Rosenberry [mailto:rosenbwc@comcast.net]

Monday, February 23, 2009

Tornados

   All of the talk about the Palm Sunday tornados dredged up some memories. That evening I was at work at #16 Fire Station, on Detroit Ave, near Dorr St.  An alarm came in for a problem at  Deveaux Village. A few minutes later another alarm, this one at the DuPont facility on Tremainsville Road. Shortly thereafter another alarm was sounded for the Dana Corporation (Spicer plant) at Sylvania and Bennett.  Ten minutes or so later the last (of 4) rescue squad was dispatched to a bus rollover on what was then called the Detroit-Toledo Expressway. They were dispatched from #16 Station. 

Our engine company was then sent to #25 Station at Central and Drummond to cover that part of the city at that time. Soon after our arrival there one of the off duty firefighters from that station came in asking about the Shoreland area tornado. Until that time, none of us had any knowledge of a tornado, only that there had been a rash of alarms that we knew were storm related. 

By the way, if Marty thinks watching the activity at the Drill Tower was fun--------jumping into that new was a real trip. Also stepping out of the 5th floor window and rappelling a floor at a time down the side of the tower was, to say the least, interesting. (Of course we were all young and fearless then).

Good memories in all of these e-mails. Keep them coming. 

-- Gary Willoughby, DHS 58',  [mailto:wiloban@epud.net]

Bill Gervais

Hi Dave

Would you please re-add me to your DHS list as I have just moved to Texas and now have a new E-mail address.
Thanks,

-- Bill Gervais (DHS -63) texnman512@att.net

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Tornados

hi dave,

i don't know where my head is. i signed my name betsy pugh shank -twice! it's schenk. also i mentioned joe heinel and left off the l. sorry, joe.

the tornado i'm remembering was much earlier than the one everyone else is writing about. by the 60's i had moved away from toledo. the one i'm remembering hit temperance, michigan in the late 40's or early 50's.

-- betsy pugh schenk

Tornados

Follow Up Dale, thank you so much for sharing the Point Place information with allof us. We lived off Shoreland at the time and my son went to school with John Smith who not only lost his leg during the Tornado, but his mother was killed. Could the boy in your story be John?

I now live in Mount Dora, Florida and have shared your information with my son who lives in Apopka, Florida. We spent a lot of time in the basement waiting out tornado warnings; so dealing with our hurricane warnings is similar, but no basement. Thanks again for sharing your information.

-- Judy (Perlinski) Christie Class of 1958

Friday, February 20, 2009

Tornados

I was fascinated by Lea's pics about the Palm Sunday tornado.

One more testimonial: I was driving a couple friends home after church that dayheading west up Bancroft. The one fellow lived off Monroe St and Sylvania. He happened to mention that one of our friends had recently returned from California and was now working at Frisch's Big boy, I believe on Haverhill near Berdan. So we detoured to go visit her. We weren't there but a very few minutes when the storm hit. I thought the large windows would shatter. Later we learned of the tornado's track; it skipped over us while we were in the restaurant. Also we realized later that we would have been perhaps in greater peril if we had continued our drive to his home.

-- Andy Amid '58 Henderson, NV

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tornados, Engine House 23








Took the liberty to reduce the photos to have them fit my monitor. Also reduced the size of the files.

-- Dale T Harper, Class of '50

Grant's

I forgot to mention that the last picture I sent goes back to a thread we had a while ago about Swayne Field. The burning building goes back to the fire at Grants which would have sat about where center field was at Swayne Field. I was there that night.

-- David Lea

Tornados, Engine House 23

Dave,

I thought I would send along the newspapers from the Palm Sunday tornado story. I was on the fire department at the time and was off duty. It passed right over us not far from Devilbiss and then touched down to the East. Another friend of mine from the fire department grabbed an ambulance from my father in law at Garner Dolbee mortuary and headed to Point Place. We made three trips to the hospital. The last one was a little boy about 7 or 8 years old. He had blown a few blocks away from his home and hit the side of another house and then was covered up by debris. Someone heard him crying and we arrived back just in time to see them digging him out from under the stuff. His right leg was severed and just hanging on by a little skin.

When we got to the hospital they told us to take him straight to surgery. All we had was a stretcher and we hand carried him in on that only to find that all the surgery tables were occupied with victims. One of the surgeons looked at our boy and asked us if we could just hold the stretcher while he worked on him. We did and he picked up some scissors and cut the skin on the boys leg and set it on a table near by. My friend Wimpy and I just looked at each other trying to maintain our composure. The little guy lived, but I lost track of him a few months later.

I attached a picture I snapped of the blue streak addition of the paper that tells the story of the tornado, (I can't believe I still had it in a box of stuff right here in Montserrat), and also a drawing of the path it took across Toledo to Point Place. It was a day I will always remember. If it would have touched down sooner, it would have been MUCH worse.

The other pics are of our engine company at #23's engine house in the Colony where the practice tower was. It's a small world story as the guy at about 8 o'clock in the picture that Marty Kupsky sent was me. I actually have all the pics of that day that the Blade reporter came out to do the story. I dug out an old scrapbook and snapped some pictures of us one day when we were practicing there. You can see the fire station in some of the shots and part of the Colony in the distance. I worked at 25 Engine house for the last years I was on the department. By the way, the picture of me on the ground is supposed to be funny. 

-- David Lea [mailto:lead@candw.ms]

Living Letters Productions
Gingerbread Hill
Box 246 - St. Peters, Montserrat
British West Indies
Phone 1-(664)-491-5812
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http://cloversongs.com

Friday, February 13, 2009

Kindergarten

Dave and Tom:
I have that same kindergarten picture at home with quite a few names listed on the back but am currently wintering in Sarasota, Florida. I compared my memories of names with Carol (Matthews) Ludwig and we came up with these additional identities:

First row, second from left, Linda Hite, looks like Connie Marlowe, third from right. Second row, first person, Billy Jarvis; Third row, first person, we think is Rhonda Monroe, third = Patty _?, fourth = Jean Hite, fifth = Suzanne Lowe, seventh = Carol Matthews, = eighth we think is Sue Ellithorpe, then Marlene Simon on the end. Fourth row: eighth = Shirley Herzig, ninth = Tom W.and tenth+Sue S.
-- Sue (Bremfoerder) Hosler

Tornados and Snickers

On the night of the Palm Sunday tornado I was returning from some Spring skiing at Boyne and drove through what I assume was the edge of a 
tornado in Milan, MI. When I got home and drove up to my apartment building at the corner of Stannard and Sylvania Ave something did not look right. There were people standing in the front yard and when I looked at the building I could see stars through the third floor windows. The tornado had ripped half the roofs off of two of the buildings and the carports. Although there were people in those apartments at the time, no one was injured. 

In the eighth grade at DeVeaux I was a crossing guard and had the job of turning the traffic light in front of the school off and on. I would go out 15 minutes before the first graders were dismissed, turn the light on, and return to class. During this time I developed an addiction for  Snickers bars. I would rush out turn the light on, run next door to the K & W (Krauss & Williams) market and buy a Snickers. One day the grocer asked me why I wasn't in school. I said, "It's okay. I have  permission." He said, "You have permission to leave school and buy a Snickers bar?" I was so afraid he would call the school and report me that I lost my addiction for Snickers and he lost a candy bar customer!

-- Roger Rummel

Shops near DeVeaux

Thanks to Gary Herren for filling in the info on the DeVeaux shopping center stores.   On the other side of DeVeaux was Johnson Furniture, Phairmont Pharmacy, National Foods (which later became Foodtown) and Shoppers Town Discount Store.

If I remember correctly the pharmacy sat back from the front of  Johnson's and the grocery. There was a soda fountain and lunch counter near the front of the pharmacy. I think there was also a beauty shop and an office of Prudential Insurance in the set back.

Wasn't the original Johnson's in an old two story building at the corner of Sylvania and Douglas? I believe there was a PURE gas station on the other side of Douglas.
-- Jim Jaggers
DHS Class of 1962

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Judy Bradley Berry

Sorry about that. I pushed your button when I was e-mailing the kids from my class. Judy Bradley Berry was from the class of "61. She died in the Cincinnati area. There maybe an obit in the Toledo Blade later this week.
-- ralph smith

Tornados

I remember them well. My parents lived on Seckinger Dr. between Monroe St. and Sylvania Ave. My husband, children, and I went to their house after church to visit for awhile and have dinner. I told him that we had better head home because the sky was so black. We were just ahead of the storm. We traveled Sylvania Ave. to Douglas Rd. right ahead of the path of the tornadoes that went across Douglas Rd. While waiting for the traffic light to change at the intersections of Tremainsville, Douglas, and Laskey, the wind lifted our car up and set it down. The lights at the gas station were bending almost to the ground. After arriving home, which at that time was on Winona Rd., we found a lot of our aluminum siding had been ripped off of the house.

Our daughter went to the hospital for a tonsillectomy shortly after this event. While there, her roommate was a young girl who had been hurt in the tornado. She didn't know whether her parents were alive or not. So many people were hurt that they were sent to a number of different hospitals. The day my daughter was released her roommate's dad came walking in on crutches. She was so happy to see him. Her mother was still in the hospital. My friend, Jim Weyer, took the infamous picture of the two tornadoes that was shown in numerous publications.

We saw a lot of the devastation. I pray that we never see one here again.
-- Donna (Wynn) Owens
Class of 1954

Eateries

The mention of Netties a couple of times this week has opened some wounds. I have lived in Maine for almost 40 years now and there is nothing here that compares to a Netties hot dog. I have times when that is all I can think of. Other times I have Red Wells flash backs) When I get back to Toledo all I eat are roast beef and hotdogs. That diet at one time also included Brauers corned beef. I taught for 26 years and for the last 20 had a Brauers bumper sticker on the wall and a Rusty's bar napkin along side. My students heard about those places more than they wanted. We do however have great lobster.  

Keep up the great work in bringing us together. This is the first mail I open each day.

-- Dusty Fisher "59" (rick was the other guy and a bit younger.)

Painted Tiger

Our DeVilbiss Tiger was painted blue and white before a game with Woodward. My brother-in-law was one of the perpetrators - and how the Woodward folks love to tell that story!
-- Susan Heffner Carlucci
DHS Class of 1961

Faith Conklin Vlcek

Dave, I am sorry to report that Faith Conklin Vlcek (DHS 1960) died Tuesday in a single car accident on her way to work at the University of Michigan. Faith lived in Tecumseh Michigan. Visitation will be at the Borek Jennings Funeral Home in Manchester Michigan Thursday Feb 12 from 6-8 pm; Saturday 2-4 and 6-8 and memorial service Sunday at 3:00 at the Manchester United Methodist Church. Condolences can be posted on the Funeral Home website.

-- Helen Babcock

Phone: 419-473-7453
Home Phone: 419-475-4115
e-mail HelenBabcock@MMOH.com
fax number 419-473-7359

Shops near DeVeaux

Hi Dave,

I am glad to see that Jim Jaggers wrote you about those shops near DeVeaux and yes, the little grocery store on the corner wa called the K&W -- I know because I frequented it.  Also on the other side of DeVeaux was Johnson Furniture, Phairmont Pharmacy, National Foods, which later became Foodtown and Shoppers Town Discount Store.

During the Tornado of 1963, Shoppers Town lost it's roof which ended up over on the other side of Douglas Rd by one of the Duplex's if my memory serves me correctly. I also think that maybe Mike Scott was over at DeVEaux at the same time I was from 1950-1959. I know that Cynthia (Cindy) Boyd was.

Thanks for posting all of these notes from other DHS grads.

-- Gary Herren DHS 1963

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Whittier 1st Gr

Hi, Sue. Yes, Suzie and I were both in this class, as well as Bev. Here are the ones that I recognize from bottom to top: 2nd row left, first person is Bill Gervais; next to him is Steve Drake and then Dave Folger. 2nd row, 4th from right is Dave Maine. 3rd row, 2nd left Suzie(Boerger) Davie . 4th row,1st person left Bev (Britton) Johnson (I think) Top row, 3rd from left Jay Jacquet and next to him on the right, I think, is his twin sister (Kay?).

Connie Marlow is in the front row, 3rd from right.

-- Linda

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Longfellow 1956

Hi, This pic. is Miss Cruze 7th grade at Longfellow 1956.  I have most of the names if anyone is interested.

-- Joan Cowell Ryder DeVilbiss 1961

ROW 1 JIM MERRITT, KAREN WARDEN, CAROL THOMPSON, CHRISTINE CANNING, BILL, CAROLYN DEBS, RICHARD STARRET,, GEORGE POLLACK
ROW 2 FROM TOP CAROLEE SESS, PAT NEIBEL, RUTH ILLMAN, SANDY RUSSELL, RONNIE CRAWFORD, BECKY BLAKE, TERRY TAULBEE, SHARON MARAQUETT
ROW 3 FROM TOP DICK MCCOY, BOB ELLIOT, JULIE SMITH, JUDY MAYO, SHARON MANORE, JUCY SCHWINN, KAY ULRICH, GORDON KOHLER, MISS CRUZE
ROW 4 DAVID, JOAN COWELL, BOB GOTTSCHALK, TONYA WHITE, JERRY STOLLER, DENNIS GRABER, DENNIS HILL, TOM HAYES

Xenia Tornado

Dave,

We live in the same county as Xenia, OH; maybe 20 miles away. The biggest tornado they had occurred April 3, 1974 and was a F5 category tornado with winds up to 300 mph. It destroyed more than one thousand homes and businesses. Hardly any buildings remained standing in Xenia's downtown. Thirty-three (33) people died in the storm, with approximately another 1,150 people injured. I remember photos of a diesel locomotive knocked over on its side. As I recall the tornado struck around 4-5 p.m.  That was a stroke of luck because Xenia High School was decimated.

-- Dick Cosgrove,DHS '56

Polar Bears at Monroe & Secor

Does anyone remember the Polar Bears at Monroe & Sylvania and the Polar bear at Woodward High School being painted orange and black our junior and senior years (58 & 59). I also seem to recall that our tiger that was in the courtyard at DeVilbiss one night before the Woodward game was painted blue and white.
Thanks,
-- Ovid (O.J.)Mc Laughlin