Students imagine life in Findlay 200 years agoFilthy clothing

I would describe clothes in this area in 1812 as very filthy. It would also be rare to find new and clean clothes. Also, shoes would be made of leather and probably not comfortable. Men wore leg-gings, and probably put grass in their shoes.

Girls carried their shoes into the church to keep them nice. Boys used bear fat to clean their boots. Each family probably would have a spinning wheel. They would prob-ably have their shoes for a year. Sheets were also made at home. — Aiden Abas, third grade, Cham-berlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Great big forestI would describe Findlay in

1812 as dark and dense trees, a great big forest. There were no roads but there was a river that was used like a road. People in the pioneer times hardly wore shoes! The pioneers only wore their shoes in church. They would carry their shoes and walk barefoot to church.

In the public square, there was a small log jail! Whenever a pris-oner was in jail and tried to break out, the prisoners would always come back, and turn themselves in. The prisoners were safe in jail but not safe out in the dark, dense forest. — Shawna Bartson, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Interme-diate School, Findlay.

One-room schoolThis area looked like a forest

with lots of trees in 1812. Their clothes were made from animal skin. The pioneers went to schools made of logs. There were not a lot of rooms in their school. Their entire school only had one room. — Jynsen Dyer, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Pioneer foodsI would describe life in Findlay

in 1812 as tougher than today. I will tell you about their food and what they ate. They ate cornmeal, johnny cakes, ash cakes, and mush. There were hundreds of wild hogs and they had the best meat to most pioneers’ opinion.

Most women made hominy by soaking the corn in lye until the hull came off. After that, they soaked the corn in clear water and boiled it until it was soft.

Corn was the chief food. In the fall, there were many nuts for the kids to gather. Also, in

the summer, there were delicious berries to gather, too. The straw-berries must have tasted so good after eating all of the hominy and corn foods.

Sometimes, turkey or deer meat was hung on a string in front of the fire to roast. A pioneer boy had to turn the meat if he wanted it to roast on all sides! He had to turn himself, too, to keep himself from roasting also!

Children had to help take care of the garden patch where they harvested potatoes and pumpkins. — Kenedy Handly, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Log cabinsHere’s how I would describe

Findlay life in 1812. The pioneers lived in log cabins. It took a lot of work to build their cabins. Chil-dren slept on the floor and their blankets were made of bearskin. The pioneers ate corn and mush for supper. This is my version of life in 1812. — Nickolas Gonza-lez, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Indian troublesIn 1812 the people of Findlay

had troubles with the Indians. The pioneers wore cloth called linsey-woolsey. They ate cornmeal and mush. For fun, pioneers had husk-ing bees. The women had sewing bees. There were a lot of weddings in the pioneer days. — Mason Greer, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Find-lay.

Swamps & woodsIn 1812, Findlay had lots of

swamps and woods. The First Nation’s people had guns because the British gave them guns. The pioneers did not get along so good with them.

Findlay had a one-room school-house. They did not have video games in 1812. Pioneers did not have lots of money to buy things. When the pioneers wanted to get new shoes, they had to wait for the tailor to come to town. All the people of Findlay used the Blanchard River to help them sur-vive. — Paige Householder, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Interme-diate School, Findlay.

Hunting for meatPioneers lived in log cabins.

The logs came from the trees in the woods and were cut down by the pioneers.

The pioneers had to hunt for all of their meats. They liked to eat deer, squirrels, mush, and hominy. They could not go buy their food. Everything they ate, they had to work hard for it. — Grand Jol-liff, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Surviving stuffThe pioneers had to survive

a lot more stuff than we have to today. They had to wear cowskin shoes and animal skin clothes. The men went fishing and hunt-ing. Pioneers had to hunt to stay alive.

Some pioneers would trade their hunted animals for other things they needed to survive. The women spun yarn, and made mittens and stockings. — Riley Lanagan, third grade, Cham-berlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Using bear fatPerhaps you wondered what

Findlay was in the 1800s. When people went to church, they had to take their shoes off. When the boys had to dress nice, they took bear fat and slicked their hair back. Johnny Appleseed came to Ohio and planted billions of apple trees. Findlay had the Tailor’s River, which is now called Blanchard River. The pioneers ate deer and wild turkey. — Jayce Ridgeway, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Pens from feathersThe way I would describe

Findlay in 1812 would be how kids would go to school. Kids in Findlay in 1812 went to school in a one-room schoolhouse. In 1812, kids’ parents had to pay $1 or $3 a term.

The tools kids used for school were pens made from turkey or geese feathers, and they wrote on big sheets of thick paper. The books they used were what they could find at home like a spelling book or the Bible. The kids liked reading the Bible or the Life of Washington.

Now, today, Findlay has more books than in 1812. Today, our pens are made up of different materials. Also kids today don’t go to a one-room schoolhouse. Kids go to Wilson Vance, Chamberlin Hill, Jefferson Primary, and other schools.

That is how kids went to school in 1812. Also why I love Findlay’s history! — Tara Spahr, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Inter-mediate School, Findlay.

Only a few booksFindlay was different in 1812.

Findlay had dense trees. There were no buildings, sidewalks, or roads. There was a river. Today the river is called the Blanchard River. The forest was dark and not loud at all.

Pioneers got their food from hunting and fishing. They would hunt bear, deer, wildcats, and a bunch of other animals. Some people had farms to grow corn. People would hunt with guns or bow and arrows.

Pioneers would raise sheep. They would get the wool off the sheep and make clothes. They would sew all of their clothes. They would get one new pair of shoes every year. Shoes were made from cowhide.

Before 1827, the pioneers in Findlay had no school. The first school was built in 1827. The school was a one-room school-house.

There were only a few books. Pioneers studied arithmetic, but no geography, history, or science. Pioneers wrote on big and thick paper. That’s what schools were like for pioneers.

This is what church was like for pioneers in Findlay. Nobody wanted to miss church. Some-times moms would bring a basket of bread to keep the kids quiet. Pioneers walked or rode a horse to church. This is what Findlay was like in 1812. Thank you for reading this! — Caitlyn Lentz, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

JohnnycakesIn pioneer times, people wore

things that women put on their spinning wheels. The pioneers ate corn and meat. They mixed cornmeal, water, and a little salt together. Then they shaped the dough into cakes and they called them johnnycakes.

It was easy for pioneers to get meat for dinner. There were deer, bears and squirrels in the woods. Some farmers killed up to 45 deer in the winter.

Johnny Appleseed had visited this area. There were apple trees growing along the rivers and creeks. He didn’t wear shoes, had a coffee sack for a shirt, and a pan for his hat.

In 1827, the first one-room schoolhouse was built in Findlay. It had benches, one table, and one fireplace. The school day usually ended with a spell-down.

Many children walked three and four miles to get to school. In

1831, there were about 15 families in the town. Findlay had a sawmill, three taverns, and a postmaster.

The postmaster carried the mail in his hat and gave it to people as he met them on the street. The people of Findlay believed in their town and were planning to expand! — Nathan Sterling, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Hard workLife in 1812 was a life with very

hard-working pioneers. Pioneers didn’t just go to the store and buy stuff. Pioneers actually worked for water, food, and shelter. Some things that these hard-working pioneers did were hunt, and either cook what they got, or traded for sugar or salt.

There was a lot of mud, rocks, and various plants. The trees in Findlay were so dense, you could hardly see through them. So, when the British and Ohio sol-diers pulled wagons full of guns and supplies, they could barely get through.

I know this sounds like a harsh environment, but, believe me, if you took awhile to sit back and look around at all the nature, you wouldn’t find it so bad after all. That’s my version of what life was like in Findlay in 1812. — Ryan Yarcusko, third grade, Cham-berlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

Sharing a towelIn 1812, life in Findlay, Ohio,

was much different than life as we know it today. There are many examples of these differences.

In 1812, pioneers lived in log cabins. In the early days, there was really bad trouble between the set-tlers and the Indians. The Indians killed many people and caught their cabins on fire to burn them. The British were helping the Indi-

ans by giving all the Indians some guns. This trouble with guns and fighting led to the War of 1812.

In 1812, if a prisoner was put in jail, the prisoner would break out and tell the police officers they broke out. They did this because the jail was put out in the woods and there were animals that would kill the prisoner. They know if they broke out, they need to get back in.

Think about it this way: It was safer inside the prison than out-side with wild animals!

When the girls and boys got new shoes, a man came by house to house to make shoes for the family. This only happened once a year. It’s not like today where you go to the store and buy them. You only got one pair for one year.

Since girls only got one pair, when they went to church they had to take off their shoes so they would not get dirty or wet. When they got there they put them back on.

Their school was a one-room schoolhouse and it was very crowded. If a young boy or man wanted to dress up, he took a little soot off the bottom of a cooking pot and mixed it with bear fat to polish his boots. Bear fat without soot was used to slick down his hair. Then, he was ready to go wherever.

If you visited a hotel in 1812 (a cabin that is really high), there was only one towel. The oldest would take a shower and dry off with that towel. Then the next-oldest would take a shower and he would use that same towel. Every child and grownup from oldest to youngest would use the towel.

Then, that towel would go to the next family in the hotel and they would use it and each family after that.

This seems disgusting com-pared with life as we know it today. Reading about life in 1812 makes it easier to realize how lucky we are today. — MaKayla McClain, third grade, Chamberlin Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.

The Courier asked students to imagine life in Findlay and in Hancock County about 200 years ago. Here is what they wrote.

Thank you to the teachers who helped them:• Sherri Federici , eighth grade, Central

Middle School, Findlay.• Amy Holzwart, third grade, St. Michael’s

School, Findlay.• Monica Larsen, third grade, Chamberlin

Hill Intermediate School, Findlay.• Dana Patterson, third grade, Van Buren

Elementary School, Van Buren.

Dear Diary: My name is Susanne. I am a 10-year-old girl in a fairly wealthy family. My day starts very early. I have to do my many chores, like getting all the eggs out of the chicken coop, and feeding and brush-ing our horse, Phillip.

Then, at 7:00 a.m., I have to go to school. School is easy for me, and I love going. I walk to and from school every day. It’s about 1.5 miles.

After school, I come right home to start my homework. My house is a big log cabin; our nearest neighbor is about half a mile away.

My father is a blacksmith and he farms the land we own, along with the help of my brother who is 16. Today, I wore a nice dress my mother made. She is very good at sewing. The games I enjoy playing are marbles and jacks. I can beat all my friends in both of the games. — Sierra Perry, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

10-year-old girl has many chores

It is 1812 in the Northwest Territory of the United States of America, in the northwest corner of the state of Ohio in the Black Swamp. A new fort named Fort Findlay stands.

Life is much more primitive than the present day, in which every aspect of life includes the help of technology. None of the current cloth-ing companies existed and barely any of the current food companies existed, but most of all, there were no car companies or airplane com-panies. In fact there were no cars or airplanes.

In 1812, the people could not hop in a car and be at a location five to six miles away in about 10 minutes. They would either have to walk or get around on a wagon pulled by horses.

If you did walk, the shoes weren’t as comfortable as they are today, yet they still walked very far with them. If you were fortunate, you could have a carriage with a top. If not, you can imagine traveling would be difficult in 1812, but the people of that time were probably used to it.

This just shows how fortunate we are. — Justin Hopkins, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

No technology, cars or airplanes

I was walking with my mom through the woods. There were lots of trees. We came to a spot where there was a clearing and we saw lots of soldiers building a fort.

We walked back home and it was almost suppertime. My mom sent me down to the Blanchard River with a fishing pole to catch supper. I caught seven catfish. I was happy and headed home.

My mom and I cleaned the fish and got them ready to eat. They were so good because we hadn’t eaten for two days. After supper, my mom and I talked about how we could earn money.

She is going to the fort tomorrow and offer to wash clothes and darn socks to earn money. Maybe we will be able to stay here. — Morgan Billmaier, St. Michael’s School, Findlay.

Catching catfish for dinner

Dear diary: It’s almost summer, and I can’t wait! We are moving to Findlay so that we can help the troops. Ma told me that I would get a lot of practice for what life was going to be like when I got older. She told me that I would also learn how to take care of myself and others.

It was finally summer of 1812. Since we lived here a bit before the summer, I did what I always did, clean the stalls, collect the eggs, and do my household chores.

But this summer was different. We were helping soldiers like Ma said, but it just didn’t feel right. While living in Findlay, life as I knew it was a mess. There were soldiers everywhere, and most of the people there were only there so that they could help the soldiers.

We were there for the same reasons, but for some reason it didn’t seem that way. I felt that our summer was going to be legendary, but it was anything but that. — Lauryn Reedy, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Summer spent helping soldiers at fort

Dear diary: It is June 12, 1812. Ma and Pa have just left for work at the old mill. Molley Sue and I have gotten out of bed and have had something to eat. There is a note on the kitchen counter to remind us to do our chores.

The war is still happening and the town is still struggling. We have little food to eat and even less to feed the cattle. They are getting thin and weak. Pa says that we might have to use them for our food if things don’t get any better.

Our clothes have become worn and dingy. My faded sun dress is now a light yellow. Molley Sue’s dress is starting to tear at the seams, so it is my job to use leftover fabric to make new things for the family while they are at work. Molley Sue helps the florist out to bring in more money to buy food.

Well, time to do chores. This is goodbye for now. — Katy Wells, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Little food for people or cattle

Daily chores include collecting eggs, chasing away a wolfDear Diary: So, today, Mother

had me go to the barn and collect the chicken eggs. While in there, I saw a wolf eating the chickens.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I looked for the closest thing to me and hit the wolf with it. Finally, the wolf left and I could continue collecting the eggs.

After I got all the eggs into the kitchen, Father told me that I had

to go and feed the horses, cows, and pigs.

As I walked out of the pig pen, I stubbed my toe and fell backwards into the mud. When I got into my house, I went straight to the bath-room to bathe before Mother and Father saw me. I quickly got out of the bath and put my clothes on and walked downstairs for supper.

After supper, Father helped me

with my homework, while Mother knitted. After I was finished with my homework, Father had me go outside to help him with the roof.

It had rained four days straight and this was the first day it had finally stopped. The roof had started leaking at the end of the third day and mother was start-ing to worry. Thankfully, it had stopped so we could fix it.

After fixing the roof, Father and I went inside. He sat down and started playing his guitar and I went in my room to read. Around 9:30, I fell asleep reading and next day I had school. Well, Father is calling me down for dinner. I’ll be back soon to write. Bye. — Jessie Gyarmati, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

The Courier

Photos provided by the Hancock Historical MuseumTHE UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY, formerly called Findlay College, has been educating students since 1886. Before computers, typewriters were the technology of choice (in the 1950s, above). Students could get their books, trinkets and other items in the student union’s store (in 1961, below).

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Come have FUN with us This Summer at Camp Berry & Camp Lakota

For more information Navigate your way to the Black Swamp website at: www.bsac449-bsa.org and view either the Outdoor Programs page or the Calendar

Registrations can be made online up to 10 days prior to the event

E2 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012BICENTENNIAL

Imagining life in 1812...Swimming in Blanchard River

My name is Kaitlyn Baer and I was 9 years old in 1812. The Brit-ish fought the U.S. Army.

When I was good, we would go have some fun. We would go swimming in the Blanchard River sometimes. I like to bob for apples. I love when we do paper dolls and marbles. Thank you for listening to my life in 1812. — Kaitlyn Drew Baer, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Playing marblesMy name is Cody. I was 5 years

old in the summer of 1812. I liked to play marbles and go fishing and swimming. It was so fun to play marbles. I kept winning. Some-times, when I go fishing, I only get bass and catfish. I liked bobbing for apples. I got red apples, but I wanted the green apples.

Baseball was fun. I kept on get-ting home runs and outs. Check-ers were fun. I kept getting kings and sometimes I lost. I liked the summer of 1812. It was so fun! — Cody Lee Beagle, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Bobbing for applesHello. My name is Evan Wesly

Johnson and I am 9 years old. I live three miles away from Fort Findlay. Every day, I go up there to trade food for furs. My father is off fighting in the war. For that reason, I got some of the wood they needed. They paid me $5 a day! I am rich!

Sorry, got a bit carried away there.

Anyway, I set up games there for the soldiers to play. My proud-est games are bob for apples and checkers. For checkers, my price is a nickel a player and my price for bob for applies is a penny a bob and, if they get an apple, they can eat it.

I forgot to mention this, but if

you win a game of checkers, you get a free bob in the special bob bucket and, if they get an apple, they have a choice. They can eat the apple or they can chuck the apple at a tree. That’s how I spent the summer of 1812. — Evan Wesly Johnson, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

War going onIn 1812, life was hard for the

kids who lived then. At that time, the War of 1812 was going on versus the British. Also, the U.S. Army built a fort on the banks of the Blanchard River called Fort Findlay.

For fun, sometimes, kids played with marbles, checkers, paper dolls, had a three-legged race, bobbed for apples, base-ball and swam and fished in the Blanchard River. I am glad we have everything we have now. — Aiden Haley, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Not fond of schoolMy name is Connor Howard.

I’m 9 years old. It is the summer of 1812. I like to swim. I like to fish. I like to play checkers. I like to climb trees. I like to play hide and seek. I’m unhappy when I go back to school in the fall. — Connor Howard, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

British start warMy name is Alexis Kerfoot. I

live in the summer of 1812. I am a child, but I dress like adults. I am treated like an adult.

Some of the things I do for fun are swimming, fishing and watch-ing the Army build the stockade. The Army is building a fort to protect the Army while they sleep.

But, a while ago, the Brit-ish came over on ships and they started a war. The war came out of nowhere and it lasted all night. When it was over, our flag was still

up and so that proves that we won the war. — Alexis Kaye Kerfoot, third grade, Van Buren Elemen-tary School, Van Buren.

Difficult lifeMy name is Alisa. I was 9 years

old when it was the summer of 1812. It was very difficult. Girls were dressed and treated like adults (young adults). The lower-class children worked on farms or in factories. The children always had to be on their best behavior.

The games played were mar-bles, checkers, paper dolls, three-legged races, swimming and fishing in the Blanchard River, and more! I hope you could discover or imagine what it was like back then. — Alisa Kathrine Matsuo, third grade, Van Buren Elemen-tary School, Van Buren.

Hard for kidsHi. My name is Bob Jones and

I was 9 in the summer of 1812. It was hard for kids at that time. Kids were treated like adults. The things we did for fun were play marbles, bobbed for apples, played baseball, paper dolls, three-legged races, and swam and fished in the Blanchard River. It was hard for kids in the summer of 1812. — Jace McCartney, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Working on farmHi. My name is Steve Jones. My

life was hard during the summer of 1812. I had to work on the farm and sometimes in the factories. My friends and I would play marbles, checkers, three-legged races, bob for apples, play baseball, swim and fish in the Blanchard River.

I would watch the soldiers work on the stockade. I gave the soldiers water on hot days. I didn’t like the year of 1812. — Grant Hill, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Young cookHello. My name is Soffie. I was

8 in the year of 1812.I am the youngest of my family.

My mother taught me how to cook. So, when my mother and father are out to the store around lunch, I cook lunch. But don’t worry. I am not alone.

My Uncle Bryan lives right next door to us, so he comes over and helps in the summer. When everyone is done eating, we wash the dishes and, when mother and father are here, we have three-legged races, make paper dolls, bob for apples, go swimming and fishing at the Blanchard River.

When my mother and father come late, Uncle Bryan spends the night. We are very scared that the war is going to come our way and the British might win.

The sounds are Boom!! Bang!! Crash!!

In the morning, all the sounds were gone and mother and father were home. Mother was making juice, pancakes, bacon, eggs, homemade syrup, toast, for break-fast. My brothers’ names are John and Adam. My sisters’ name are Likly, Abigail and Lexia. In the morning after breakfast, we clean up.

After cleanup, we go over to Uncle Bryan’s and play with his children. He has three children. Their names are Wyatt, Olivia, Haley. Haley is the oldest. Wyatt is the middle child, and Olivia is the youngest. Their mom’s name is Emily.

She is going to have a baby. It is a baby boy. They already have a name for it. Its name is Drew Bryan Anthony Stratton.

That is what happened in the summer of 1812. — Haley Frueh, third grade, Van Buren Elemen-tary School, Van Buren.

Large familyMy name is Lily McKeown. I

was 9 years old in the summer of 1812. During 1812, the war was the War of 1812. We were fighting the British. They were not fighting in the Findlay area, but the U.S. soldiers were making a fort on the banks of the Blanchard River.

I usually went swimming in the river, but, one day, I saw men carrying guns and axes, then ran

home. At dinner, my father asked why I had not gone swimming. I said that I saw men carrying guns and axes.

The next day, he went out and saw the men. He said that the men were from the war. Mom said that I should take them some corncake and jam. I took them that and some fruit.

Oh, I forgot. My family was big. My family has 10 children, not including me and my twin, Reese. Reese and my favorite sport is baseball. We are on a team of neighbor kids. All kids were dressed and treated like adults.

Well, that year was pretty scary, but I am glad we got that independence that we wanted. — Lily McKeown, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Plentiful fishMy name is Reese Recker.

When I was 4 years old, I lived in the summer of 1812. It was pretty difficult when I was young because there was a war at that time.

My favorite thing to play when I was young was baseball, swim-ming in the Blanchard River, and bobbing for apples. I got lots of apples, but I wanted red apples. When I was playing baseball with my friends, I scored a home run and my friends gave me high-fives.

When I was swimming in the Blanchard River, I saw a lot of fish in the river. They surrounded me because they wanted to know who I am. — Reese Recker, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Stockade builtMy name is Cayla Snow. In the

summer of 1812, it was a hard life because there was a war going on and my country fought the British in 1812. I got to see the U.S. Army build the stockade along the banks of the Blanchard River.

What I got to do for fun with my friends was bobbing for apples, marbles, checkers, paper dolls, three-legged races and fishing in the Blanchard River.

Children that were poor worked on farms or in factories and, for discipline, you got whacked with a whip. It hurt! I wish it was easier when I was growing up. — Cayla

Marie Snow, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

On best behaviorThe children who lived in the

summer of 1812 had a different life than we have today.

At that time, the U.S. Army was building Fort Findlay. The children had to dress like adults and they were treated like adults. Children in lower classes worked on farms or in factories.

While eating dinner, children were not allowed to talk unless asked to or had permission. They always had to be on their best behavior.

For fun, children played mar-bles, checkers, baseball and swim-ming and fishing in the Blanchard River. It would be different living in the summer of 1812. — Bre-anna Tabler, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Playing checkersThe summer of 1812 for

kids was different than today’s summer. They played checkers for fun. Some kids might have liked to watch Fort Findlay being built. Some kids were not allowed to talk at dinner without permission.

Kids were treated like adults. Kids liked to fish. I think it would be hard to live back in 1812. — Drew VanAtta, third grade, Van Buren Elementary School, Van Buren.

Watching the warHi. My name is Tyler and I

was 9 years old when the War of 1812 happened and I was watching the war. They burned the White House down. They had to repaint the White House. The British were wearing red and we were wearing blue.

A lot of people got killed in the War of 1812.

The U.S. Army built a stock-ade on the Blanchard River, Fort Findlay. They treat kids like adults. The children worked on farming and they have to work in a factory. — Tyler Mikel Weber, third grade, Van Buren Elemen-tary School, Van Buren.

Traveling by horseback or on footDear Diary: If you took a walk around Findlay in 1812 there would be a lot

of different stuff you would see. Findlay got its name because it was a supply fort during the War of 1812.

Findlay wasn’t really a big town. Findlay had a courthouse and a general store right in the middle of town. The only way to get around town was on horseback or to walk. Some people found an alternate way to travel like riding other animals like donkeys or mules. — Nick Brandeberry, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Fort Findlay was for suppliesIn 1812, if you would walk around Findlay, you would see horses, mules,

and donkeys pulling flat boards. You would see people walking around going to the one general store in the middle of town.

Other buildings you might see would be the blacksmith’s shop and a little courthouse. In town, there would only be one sheriff and a deputy.

You might think that there was a war fought here since there is a fort, but what the fort really was used for was to supply the soldiers with food, muskets, ammunition, and clothing. So you can really say that Fort Findlay was only a supply fort. — Noah Routson, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Dirt roads and outside restroomsDear Diary: It’s April 11th, 1812. We have dirt roads and no lights. We

have to carry around lamps.Whenever you’re walking down the road and a man on horseback goes down

the path, clouds of dust and dirt form behind him. That’s why I always walk, so I don’t have to worry about dirt in my eyes or getting dirt in anyone else’s.

It’s warm outside and I’m on my way to school. Did you know Fort Findlay was built now? We have some part in the war. I think people come to get food, to rest a little, to get some water. But I’m not too sure.

I don’t get out much because my mother doesn’t want some soldier to kill me. We don’t have sidewalks, phones, and it takes a while to send a letter to someone unless they live close to you.

We don’t have very many big houses. Most of the buildings are small. We use outside restrooms. I know: Gross! That’s all I have to say about this small town I live in. I’m glad we aren’t under attack and we can help others in need. — Justine Manley, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Hunting and farmingIn 1812, my family settled along the

Blanchard River, in Findlay, Ohio. My Dad and I wake up early to get dressed and hunt for breakfast. We hunt deer in the woods. My Dad and I skin the deer, my mom and sister cook it, and we eat breakfast.

Then, my mom teaches us spelling and reading at home. We play games until lunchtime. After lunch, Dad and I go hunting again. We kill four birds. My mom and my sister pluck the feathers.

We put pepper on the meat, cook it and eat it. In the afternoon, Dad and I plant seeds on the farm and we build a log cabin. At night, we are tired when it is time for bed. We put out the fire and go to sleep. — Cole Sprague, third grade, St. Michael’s School, Findlay.

Bath in a bucketIn 1812, there was a boy named

William Davis. He wore overalls and a short-sleeved shirt. He lived in a log cabin on the Blanchard River in Findlay, Ohio.

He went to a one-room schoolhouse. He walked to school with his brothers and sisters. After school he walked home and went hunting for supper. He hunted with a gun and killed a deer.

His Dad skinned the deer and his mom cooked it. After supper, he took a bath in a bucket. Then he put on paja-mas and went to bed. — Davis Sprague, second grade, St. Michael’s School, Findlay.

Photos provided byHancock Historical Museum

GROWING UP IN Findlay was easier, and probably more fun, in the 1900s than in the early 1800s. Activities for youth ranged from backyard barbecues with the family on the Fourth of July (1964, right), to an Easter egg hunt at a local school (mid-1960s at Wilson Vance Elementary School, below right), to something as simple as getting a refreshing cup of punch for your date in between slow dances at the Findlay High School prom (below).

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Life in 1812...On an errand to the general store

Dear Diary: Today is Monday, June 18, 1812. I woke up to my mother saying, “Come on! Get up! You need to go get some meat for dinner at the general store!”

I finally got up, got ready, and got the money from my mom to get the meat. She gave me two dollars more. I’m not sure if she knew that, but she doesn’t have to know either.

I thought I could get myself a candy bar or two while I was there. I was on my way to the general store and, like always, I had to pass the meanest kid on the street, Luke.

Luke liked to pick on me because I was the only girl around here, but today I found a way to get past Luke’s house and for him not to see me.

After getting past Luke’s house, I passed the park, the spot to be. Everyone goes there. Old, young, and pretty much any living thing. I knew I couldn’t stop. I had to get to the general store before it closed or Mother would be mad.

I saw all my friends running around, people playing chess, dogs barking. I said hi to my friends for a little bit, but was on my way. I had to pass the courthouse. I looked in the window to see all the men hard at work.

Then, finally, I was at the general store! I went in, picked up the meat, and I got myself two candy bars. I talked to the store owner and then was on my way home. On my way home, I stopped at the park and stayed a little too long.

When I finally got home, Mother was mad at me, real mad. The meat was all messed up with dirt from the park. I had to stay in my room for the rest of the night. Sometimes, I wish I was in a different century! Goodnight, diary. — Laura Wilson, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Small town of almost 200 popping upJuly 4, 1813. Dear Julia: It has been over one year since Col. Findlay

had us build this fort, and already a small town has popped up. It has been growing fast. The town’s population is almost 200.

The courthouse doubles as a general store. It also is just a little shack. The people who live in this town are just farmers, but they’re really smart. One man said that if they drain some of the swampland they will have fertile farmland, and he was right.

Whenever we have extra supplies, we barter with some of the farm-ers for fruits and vegetables. One time we got a pig for a pound of black powder. At the last town meeting the people decided to name the town after the fort, Findlay!

It’s not always good times around here. A man fell off of his roof when he was fixing it. He wasn’t hurt badly, but a couple of us decided to help out around his farm until he got better.

It rained really hard the other week. Two of the farmers’ fields were completely flooded. One of the men who owned the farm said he knew this would happen, and that’s why he bought more than five acres.

Some people think that in the future it will be much worse than that, but it’s a problem they will all have to face.

A man told me that, after the war, he would sell me some land so that I may make a living out here.

Most of the time, the weather out here is great. It gets cold in the winter and really hot in the summer. In December, after it snows, there’s enough of it to make you go blind when you leave the fort.

Most of the area is still forest even though some of it was cleared for farmland. At night, when the sun goes down, it sets over the trees in the west and through the tree tops we get the last sliver of light for the day. It makes every man reflect on the day of work and never want to leave. — John DeMuth, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Dirt paths and small housesToday, I thought about what it would be like to take a walk around

Findlay, Ohio, in 1812. There would have been dirt paths throughout the whole city instead of sidewalks, small houses instead of big ones, and horses and other four-legged animals instead of cars.

There was no electricity, not even streetlights. They had to carry around lamps with them on the street during the night to see.

We have come a long way since then. It is amazing to see how much this generation has accomplished. I am grateful to be able to live in a world where I can keep in touch with my family all around the world, with hardly any obstacles whatsoever.

We should not take for granted what we have because, in 1812, they would have to work hard just to make a meal. Now we jump in the car and go to a fast-food restaurant! From smartphones to high-tech computers, to ways to communicate with people around the world, we truly are the tech generation. — Miranda Benjamin, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

There’s nothing to do but workFindlay isn’t much, but there are a few things in the area. The court-

house is the biggest building in Findlay, but it’s also fairly small itself. The sheriff’s office is really small. There are only two officers and they don’t even do much, anyways.

Houses in Findlay are pretty much like living outside. The roof is all straw and the floors are dirt and rocks. Wouldn’t really call it a house. The land is either crops or land that hasn’t been sold to a farmer.

There are plenty of horses because horses are the only way we can get around, other than walking. We don’t get very much food because we’re very poor and can’t afford a good meal.

The population in Findlay doesn’t go any higher than 40 people. Outside of Findlay isn’t much different. In fact, it’s almost exactly the same. Maybe more people, but they still live like we are. The fact is there is not that many cities outside Findlay, anyways. There’s nothing to do in Findlay but to clean and work to get food, supplies, water, etc.

Living in Findlay is great even though there’s nothing to do but work. I don’t really mind because the weather here in Findlay is great and feels good every day.

If I was ever born in a different place, I would be very different, but I like that I was born here and I love living here. — Justin Eyerly, eighth grade, Central Middle School, Findlay.

Messages to Findlay of the future

As I sat down this morning to read The Courier, the headline on Page A3 was: “Last Call: Be a part of Findlay’s history,” and it immediately caught my atten-tion. As I read down through the article where it stated, “Think of the future: Frankly, we’ve received very few essays on the question,” my heart sank.

Why? Why not? I said to myself. Isn’t anyone looking toward the future?

As you begin to read my ver-sion of the future, I must begin with memories from my past. This is the only way I can vision a future!

In today’s society, very few want to look for anything positive. Speaking for myself, the positive can be found from within. None of us think alike. None of us look the same. None of us are the same. We are completely different. That’s wonderful to know that we are just “who we are.”

I am thankful to say because of my father’s and mother’s loving ways of looking at the future, I am

who I am today because of their wonderful beliefs they instilled in me.

Those beliefs have guided me daily to try and make the right decisions and choices.

As I focus on writing this essay, I must focus on the future. Yes, I have many memories of my past. I could even write an essay looking through a young person’s eyes. No matter what has happened in our past, we must look at our future “positively.”

This world will never be per-fect. So, to try to envision a future with everything the way we want it. It is impossible. It’s what you call an impossible mission.

If it’s 200 years from now when you are reading this, I hope you will still look into your past to see your future. Why? Our past does play a major role in our future.

Our futures can be filled with so many beautiful memories. Never focus on things also known as material things. Those things come and go, just like each and every season. Our seasons change

from winter, to spring, to summer and then to fall. No season from year to year will ever be the same.

No human being’s future will ever be the same.

Never look to another person as being the perfect person. Be yourself. You were created to be yourself. Don’t ever be ashamed of who you are. Whatever trials or tribulations you go through, unfortunately can never be com-pared completely to someone else’s afflictions.

“Live each day to the fullest!”Be always accountable. This

means be responsible. Why?

Because we must always make wise choices and decisions. They affect our futures. They also affect others’ futures, whether or not we want to look at it that way.

In some ways, this essay could be entitled “Advice for our Futures.” Never reach for the impossible. Reach for the possible.

May we focus on the “positive.” Every single human being has something positive about them.

We were all created for a reason. May our future hold where the world has slowed down and we are thinking more of others. — Joyce Thomas, Vanlue.

Focus on the positive, reach for the possible, think of others

We gave readers a difficult assignment: What would you say to people living in Findlay 200 years from now? Here are their messages to the Findlay of 2212.

During my 85 years of existence on Earth, there have been more inventions and advance-ments by man than all of the preceding centu-ries combined.

As a boy of preteen age in the early 1930s, I studied my homework from our centralized public school under a kerosene lamp and, when the wick was intact, by a white gasoline Alad-din lamp. After burning, one slight bump and the wick shattered.

Electric lights had been invented by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, but electricity was not available in the rural areas until the mid-1930s. Refrigeration was not yet available.

In 1944, when I graduated from high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps, flew as an aircrewman in PBMs (Patrol Bomber by Martin) which had two radial prop engines

that used aviation gasoline. Aircraft had advanced from the first plane

in 1903 to a vast selection of propeller-type bombers, fighters and troop carriers by 1940. Late in World War II (1941-1945), there were jet engines quickly developed for fighter planes, and within a short period jet engines were used in commercial transports.

Telephones were widely used in our area in the 1920s and beyond. Radios came along in the 1930s. Movies were in black-and-white pic-tures until the late 1930s also. Then, television quickly took hold in the late 1940s. TV pictures were first in black and white until color was added a few years later.

During the 1950s, a new method of record-ing accounting procedures was introduced in

many companies on a mainframe computer. By the late 1970s, the personal computer replaced many of the huge cumbersome computers.

Technology flourished as computers were downsized and individuals soon acquired their own PC or MacIntosh (Apple) computer. The Internet was developed with tremendous amounts of information made available to anyone with a computer.

Medical accomplishments saw the control of tuberculosis, smallpox, polio and many other diseases, including various types of cancer. Heart conditions were improved and complete transplants were successful for various organs.

I’m certain we have only skimmed the sur-face to what the future will bring. — Wayne Carpenter, Findlay.

Inventions, advancements, and many more to come

I replicated Rip Van Winkle. Just woke up and it’s 200 years from now. Technology allows the mind to absorb several centuries of history in a few short minutes.

But I’m only interested in what happened since 2012. I remember that we were celebrating our community’s bicentennial. I was at the stage of life where one thinks about getting their estate in order so, now, 200 years later, I wondered about things health- and age-related.

Here’s what I found:• Chips implanted in my body at birth would constantly monitor my

physiologic functions. Moreover, my body fluids, electrolytes, and blood cells components would automatically be adjusted to normal levels if they registered either high or low.

• Genetics research, new technology and pharmaceutical break-

throughs had virtually eliminated diseases that flourished in my time. Cancer. Gone. Heart disease. Gone. Diabetes. Gone. And the list goes on.

• Let’s be honest, much of our health improvement was due to a scarcity of natural resources. Most of our food is now genetically manu-factured. Standards required it to be healthy and nutritious.

• Age. Wow. Although we still see an occasional obituary in the electronic Courier, a baby born today could expect to live to the age of 150 and beyond.

How can the world finance taking care of this aging population? Where will we live? Well, these are questions for another day. Remem-ber, I didn’t say I was sending this report from Earth.

Sleep well. — Bill Ruse, Findlay.

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To future Findlayites...

My dear citizens of Findlay, Ohio, 200 years from now:

If only you could have lived here when I was raised here, you would of experienced the joys of growing up in a small town that grew into into a large com-munity, as it is today in 2012.

You would find neighbors that cared for one another, families that helped each other, teachers in schools that constantly cared for their students in creating a learning enviroment, and Findlay busi-nesses that catered to its people and their needs.

I have watched this community grow with indus-tries and mom-and-pop stores that I hope will still

exist in your day. They have taught us to care as a whole community and to grow together.

I fear for our community that things will become so technical, that we lose the human touch of teach-ers, doctors and volunteers. I fear that we will become one religion, but hopeful we will still pray together for world peace and the elimination of all diseases.

Our city has gone through many changes through the past years. We do know that we will still always be a growing community with all the fine families we have here in Findlay, Ohio.

Happy Birthday, Findlay, Ohio. — Kay Brondes, Findlay.

Value the human touch of teachers, doctors, volunteers

“A Day in the Life of Isabella Kreuz, 2212.”

Since humans are predictable and act in predictable ways, the future may not be much different than the present. Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

My day begins with my dog licking my face and telling me that it’s time to wake up. I told him the night before which time I would like to get up and, since he wears the collar around his neck that contains a device which allows him to speak human language, we can communicate.

My robot dresses me and I jump on my hoverboard to fly down-stairs for breakfast. My personal computer asks me what I would

like to eat. I press the button for French toast, which I love, and a hole opens up in the counter and up comes warm, yummy French toast.

My Mom and I jump in our car and it flies us to school in 3.5 sec-onds. My personal robot, Indiana, stays at school with me because she records all of my homework so I can replay it at home and know what to study.

When we return home at the end of the day, I press my finger onto the screen which reads my fingerprint and allows the front door to open. This way, a stranger cannot come into our home.

I help my Mom add to our gro-cery list on the smart board and, two hours later, the grocery deliv-

eryman is stocking our food into the cupboards that we ordered.

Everything in our house is controlled by our fingerprints and voices. All I have to do is press a button and my house can be cooler or warmer, whichever I like. I can tell the TV which show I want to watch and my favorite show comes on the screen.

My freezer is also smart. I press which flavor ice cream I want to eat and the toppings I want, and presto! I have my favorite ice cream sundae!

The future is very easy and very fun, therefore we are all very lazy because everything is done for us! — Isabella Kreuz, third grade, St. Michael’s School, Findlay.

Very easy, very fun, very lazy future seen

Hello from 2012! I have lived in Findlay nearly all my life, and wanted to tell you a little bit about what life is like for a kid living in Findlay these days.

In school, I am learning handwriting, social studies, reading, science, English and, because I go to a Catholic school, religion.

In school, you also have specials like computer, gym, library, music and art. You go five days a week, and most kids ride a bus to school. If you live close enough, you get to walk or ride your bike.

When I’m not in school or doing homework I study karate, watch TV or play games on a computer or Ipod Touch. Other electronic devices people use include Ipads, smartphones, Kindles and DSis.

Many kids play on sports teams, or study dance or gymnastics. I also love to read when I have time. I like the “House of Anubis” books and Dear Dork Diaries.

I like living in Findlay, and really like my house and my room, which is purple and pink. I like the fireworks displays that you can see on July 4 at the fairgrounds. I like to go swimming, and camp out in my backyard. A perfect day for me would be dinner at Olive Garden, ice cream at Dietschs and then staying up late.

I hope you have enjoyed a taste of what it is like to live in Findlay in 2012. — Grace Barto, third grade, St. Michael’s School, Findlay.

What life is like for a kidin Findlay, circa 2012

Dear People of Findlay in 2212:Findlay is a very nice place to

live. I like where I live because I live close to a woods and a creek.

I see lots of deer around Find-lay.

At school, we use a smart board and a white board. When my dad went to school he had a chalkboard.

I wonder what you’ll be using. Findlay has a really great

library with very nice librarians. I hope you still have books and libraries.

Your friend from 2012, Nathan J. Garcia. — Nathan J. Garcia. Findlay.

I hope you still have books and libraries

Our family has lived in Find-lay for about 17 years. Our son, who is just about to graduate from Findlay High School, was a tod-dler when we arrived. We came because of a job change for my husband. But I believe the Lord brought us here to teach us more about himself.

This is the place where the Lord put us in church homes that stretched our faith and put me in Bible study fellowship where dis-ciplined study of Scripture helped me really begin learning about the character of God and his promises. The Lord began to become very real to me as he has been teaching me about surrendering in obedi-ence to him.

This is the place where the Lord has been healing me and set-ting me free through connections with others who love Jesus. This is the place where he has taken a quiet, shy woman and stretched me out of my comfort zone in ways I’ve never dreamed imaginable!

I’d like to pass along so many stories for others who come to Findlay in the future so that they know they’re not here by chance but because the Lord wants to reveal himself to all people.

One particular story concern-ing the 100-year flood of August 2007 reveals God’s heart for this city and for people everywhere.

During the year, I was involved with the evangelism team at St. Marks United Methodist Church just south of downtown. In an effort to reach out to the com-munity with the love of Jesus, God had given us the idea to pass out bottles of water to lunchtime walkers along South Main Street. He led us to Scripture in John 4:13-14, “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.’”

We printed labels for the bot-tles and asked God when to dis-tribute them. We also asked our congregation to donate the water. I was discouraged when only two cases came in. I remember stand-ing over the cases of water asking the Lord if I had heard him cor-rectly. Was this just my idea or was it his? In my spirit, I heard him whisper, “Wait and watch.” This was on Monday.

That summer in the early mornings, I had begun walking and praying with a friend from church. We’d meet in the hospital parking lot and walk a loop around

the south end of town, praying for people the Lord laid on our hearts.

That Tuesday it had begun to rain like crazy. I don’t watch much TV so I didn’t know what was going on but knew it had been raining a lot! I tried to contact my friend to tell her we should prob-ably not walk the next day but was unable to get her. It stopped rain-ing 15 minutes before we were to walk, so I drove to meet her.

As we got out of our cars, I had an eerie feeling followed by the hugest crack of lightning I’ve ever seen. We agreed it wasn’t safe to walk outside so I suggested we go to our church and walk in the Doors Open for Christ’s Kingdom, the annex behind St. Marks. As I drove to the church, the Lord con-vinced me that I hadn’t been given a key to the building for personal use.

Then the downpour began again! My friend and I sat in the parking lot, praying for our community. During a pause in the rain, we decided to walk and pray around our church. We met a church friend, a nurse, from the east side of town who was heading to work. She told us that the city was flooded and she had taken I-75 to get to the hospital. We prayed with her before she left.

As we rounded the corner, we saw police cars and officers milling around Little Caesars’ parking lot. I told my friend I thought we were to talk to them. Neither of us knew what to say but we approached the first officer and told him we were members at St. Mark’s. We said they should let us know if there was anything we could do.

He replied, “Are you serious? We’ve been trying to determine who to call to ask to use your building. The police station is flooded and we need to set up a command center for the south end of Findlay. Do you know who could let us in your annex?”

Isn’t it interesting how the Lord orchestrated our steps to put the key right where it was needed!?

For the next few days, the DOCK became just that, a DOCK where people came in from the floodwaters for relief, for food, water, flood cleanup buckets, rest. God was shipping supplies to our DOCK from all over the place. I stopped counting bottles of water, pop, and Gatorade after about 900. Supplies were coming from all over, including other states!

Only the Lord knew what was going to hit Findlay that week, and he was preparing us to reach out to others who needed help in

ways we could never have orches-trated! I had thought we were to be distributing water bottles for lunchtime walkers on South Main Street!

During that time, a long-term recovery committee was estab-lished to help homeowners get back on their feet. Recovering from a flood is extremely dif-ficult. Many in our community were hurting and volunteers came streaming in to help in various ways, some with good intentions, some not so good.

I served on this committee with many others who had never experienced anything like this. My role was on the spiritual and emo-tional care subcommittee. I had no experience in this area so I asked the Lord what to do. He made it abundantly clear that prayer was my main focus.

He established a group of about seven people from a vari-ety of congregations who would meet for over a year and a half to pray most Monday afternoons. We would seek the Lord on behalf of the people affected by the flood and those he was sending to help.

Another of our roles was to recognize the anniversary of the flood. We had a two-day event at Riverside Park band shell, Aug. 21-22, 2008. We prayed and asked the Lord to put together the event so that it would be a time of healing for our community. It was called “Come to the River: Remember-ing, Rebuilding, Rejoicing.”

The first night, the Find-lay Civic Band played. People reported on flood recovery and shared how those not fully recov-ered could receive more help.

The second night was a praise and worship service set aside to thank God for seeing us through the flood and helping restore our community. We had prayed about what it should look like. From what the Lord had been teaching me, I knew that prayer covering was essential to ushering in the presence of God. I had searched for people who would come to the band shell to pray on a regular basis but couldn’t find a group to do that.

Everything else seemed to be falling into place. Several area congregations came to be part of this outreach to our Lord. A praise band played, people offered prayers and others shared testimo-nies. Our prayer group had sought the Lord and asked him to put it together.

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E5 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012 BICENTENNIAL

Remembering Findlay’s sesquicentennial celebration

As Findlay’s sesquicentennial festivities in 1962 came to a close, my father told me solemnly that I would be a grown-up, old woman the next time Findlay celebrated a centennial anniversary of its founding.

I had spent the evening in downtown Findlay with my par-ents, William and Anita Lanning, and newborn sister, Shari, who rode in her stroller. Mom had dressed me in a bonnet and long skirt, and we mingled with many other people who were clad in similar old-fashioned styles.

I was fascinated by the car-nival rides which occupied the pavement behind the courthouse and in front of the ornate county jail. How exciting to actually walk on the street where only cars and trucks were usually allowed to drive!

That evening, while we stood in line for ice cream at Dietsch’s, a young boy looked at my father in amazement. Dad had grown a beard in the spirit of the sesqui-centennial, and apparently the boy thought he looked familiar.

“Are you Jesus?” the child asked him incredulously.

“No, I’m not,” Dad told him. “But thank you for asking!”

Several months after Findlay’s sesquicentennial celebration, my

parents left their Findlay residence for a house with several acres in the country.

When I reached college age, my friend Vickie and I visited my former home, which had been transformed into a fraternity house for Findlay College, now the University of Findlay. It still had its slate roof, carved-oak staircase, beveled-glass French doors, and wide woodwork.

Ironically, a generation later, my nephew, Danny, lived in the very same house with several other college men.

While they took good care of the house, sadly, the roof, stair-

case, French doors, and wood-work had all been replaced before Danny and his friends moved in.

My hope is that the staircase and doors were sold, rather than hauled to the landfill, and are cur-rently showpieces in the home of someone who appreciates them for their beauty and historical signifi-cance.

I am thankful Findlay now has the Hancock Historical Museum and the Historic Preservation Guild of Hancock County to inspire people to maintain the character of Findlay’s grand old houses.

In another irony, after 49 years of country living and just in time for the bicentennial, Mom and Dad have purchased a house in Findlay once again. They have moved to a home with a one-level floor plan and with two fewer acres of land, just in case age begins to catch up with them.

When I asked Dad recently if he remembered telling me in 1962 that I would be a grown-up, old woman the next time Findlay cel-ebrated a centennial anniversary, he laughed.

“I guess I was wrong about that,” he responded, “since your mother and I still haven’t grown up yet ourselves!” — Kay Lan-ning Hochstettler, Findlay.

What can Courier readers add to the history of Findlay? It turns out they could add a lot!

As leader of that group, I felt a heavy responsibility to please God and ask him to help people heal. It was definitely a faith-building time for me. Just before it was to start, I stepped off by myself for one more prayer. “Oh, Lord, I hope that I heard you and was obedient to everything you asked me to do. And I hope you show up tonight!”

Just then, a young Asian boy approached me as the band was warming up. In broken English he asked, “This sounds Christian. What church is it?”

I replied, “It’s not one congre-gation but several coming together to thank God for seeing us through the flood.”

He responded, “What flood?”That was a big clue that he

wasn’t from Findlay! I asked, “Are you new to Findlay or just visit-ing?”

His reply made me tremble. “We were called by God.”

His father then began shar-ing with me that their family was from the country of Laos. They had been called by God to come to Findlay, Ohio, to preach the gospel message, teach about the Holy Spirit and tell about God’s miracles for today. They under-stood that our western church does not understand these things but they see them all the time in Laos. They had come in June 2008 and had been coming to the park every night at 7 to worship the Lord and pray for the city of Findlay!

Who but God calls a prayer team from a country on the other side of the world to saturate the band shell in prayer so His pres-ence can be ushered in! At that moment, I heard the still, quiet voice of God say, “Did you not think I heard your prayer and that I would answer it in ways you could never dream or imagine?”

Oh, that the people of Findlay,

Ohio, would come to know that:• the Creator of this universe

desires to have an intimate rela-tionship with us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

• when we in faith believe that Jesus was crucified for our sins, we might have that relationship with our Heavenly Father.

• that then we are not left alone but given the Holy Spirit to live in us.

• for nothing is impossible with God! (Luke 1:37)

I thought my husband and I had come to Findlay because of a job change. In actuality, God called us to Findlay so that he could change us and then send us out to tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ!

So, what about you? Why are you here? Are you being called by God? Have you been brought here for a purpose greater than you can imagine? Maybe you’re still trying to decide if God is for real. Try asking him. He’s calling you. — Kim Bookmyer, Findlay.

ThoseContinued from page E4

Photos provided by the Hancock Historical MuseumTHE SESQUICENTENNIAL (150th anniversary) arrived in 1962 to much anticipation. A large parade was held through downtown (above) with all sorts of elaborate fl oats and costumes (left). Many events took place, including an art show, various re-enactments, games and, like this year, a beard growing competition (above right). At right, residents clamber to get free souvenirs from one of the numerous events.

rooney & ranzau, ltd.119 e. crawford st.

419-425-3821

Phil Rooney, Attorney

Christie Ranzau, Attorney

E6 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012BICENTENNIAL

All dressed up for 1962 paradeFifty years ago, a parade was held on Main Street

to celebrate Findlay’s sesquicentennial. Our family was entry 191 for the parade and it was a long wait to enter the Main Street lineup with the rest of the entries.

The parade participants and onlookers reflected Findlay’s past with vintage clothing and horse-drawn buggies.

The buggy that we rode in that day has a his-tory of its own. It had been found in a barn and was in pretty bad shape, but there were no parts miss-ing. The wheels needed the rubber replaced and the spokes were painted yellow.

The body of the buggy was painted black with yellow running gears. The wicker siderails were also

refinished. After careful restoration, the buggy was put back together and was ready for the parade. The pony that pulled us down Main Street that summer day in 1962 was named Tiny Tim.

My family was dressed in vintage clothing. My mother has kept the full-length black dress that she wore that day. She also wore a wide-brimmed black hat.

My father had grown a beard for the occasion and wore a black suit and top hat. My cousin’s vintage dress was pink, mine was white, and our bonnets matched our dresses.

Our family was honored to have a photo of our family in the newspaper to celebrate Findlay’s 150 years. — Gwen Schmidt, Findlay.

My fondest memory of Findlay was the 1962 celebration in the downtown. I can remember riding an old-fashioned Ferris wheel. Being very young, I remembered that moment for years.

I finally asked my dad about that memory. He told me that a Ferris wheel had been located next to the library when the park-ing was two ways. That memory is probably the earliest I have of this area.

Ironically, we now have peeple that come to the end of the street, go to the right lane, and turn left. Progress is not what it’s cracked up to be. — Brad Inbody, Find-lay.

Fond Ferris wheel memory

Celebrating the passage of timeWhen I learned that my home-

town was celebrating its bicen-tennial, my first thought was: Already?

Has it really been 50 years since Findlay’s sesquicentennial? That celebration took place in July of 1962, when I was 12, and I remember it as a very big deal.

The then-Republican-Courier issued a special edition that I kept until it disappeared, as souvenirs often do. Pictures of Fort Findlay were everywhere: on signs, ban-ners, and commemorative coins.

Equally prominent was the founding date of Fort Findlay. My mother loved classical music, and I somehow got the notion that the “1812 Overture” was about a battle fought on the banks of the Blanchard.

A lot of men grew beards, which made Main Street look like Dodge City, if you ignored the cars.

I vaguely remember a carnival on Broadway near the library. I vividly remember the parade, because a teenage bicyclist acci-dentally knocked me down while my father and I were watching it near Morey’s.

When my bearded dad glared at the kid, he looked less like a Marathon accountant than a fron-tiersman who had caught someone stealing his prized ox.

The sesquicentennial was one of two events that made 1962 a

special year for me. Our family of New Deal Demo-

crats had felt like outcasts during the Nixon/Kennedy campaign, and the sesquicentennial helped us reconnect with our town. The second event occurred when a modest collection of Tutankha-men artifacts came to the Toledo Museum of Art.

Obsessed with ancient Egypt, I spent a glorious Saturday at the exhibit. Whenever I recall the best year of my childhood, I see two faces: a golden King Tut and a bearded Mayor Carlin.

The celebration also marked the end of a carefree childhood. The Cuban missile crisis flared up soon afterward and, a year after that, JFK was dead. Then I heard my first Beatles song and every-thing changed. I was now officially a teenager.

If the sesquicentennial had come in 1964 instead of 1962, I would have been too angsty and sullen to enjoy it.

Even after half a century, relics from Findlay’s sesquicentennial still exist. The “Official Souve-nir Program,” its cover featuring a lovely pencil sketch of the old mill by Virginia Ayers, recently appeared on eBay.

Other listings have included a commemorative plate made by Kettlesprings Kilns of Alliance, and a brass coin that could be redeemed for 50 cents at banks

and “any cooperative business” until July 29, 1962.

An unusually dramatic relic is scheduled to reappear during the bicentennial.

On August 8, 1962, the Opti-mists buried a time capsule in Riverside Park. According to The Courier, it contained an auto-graphed picture of President Ken-nedy, a portion of Mayor Carlin’s beard, and various documents, brochures, and photos.

For 50 cents (25 cents for kids), citizens could put their names in the capsule. We neighborhood kids considered putting in our names, but decided against it. Since we probably wouldn’t be around when the capsule was opened, why bother?

The irony, of course, is that I am around: a relic of the sesqui-centennial who teaches English at a small college in Maryland. Cel-ebrations like these are all about the passage of time.

They don’t happen very often, and the interval between them can take a person from Little League to the AARP.

I hope that Findlay’s current 12-year-olds enjoy the bicentennial as much as I did the sesquicenten-nial. I’m living proof that they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives. — Jeff Hammond, Takoma Park, Md.

A guided tourof the courthouseI remember the Findlay sesqui-

centennial in 1962. That summer, I turned 11 years old and lived south of Findlay in Arlington with my parents and brothers. My uncle, Carson C. Davis, was the Hancock County sheriff at the time.

Back in those days, the sheriff had an office and a residence at the county jail at the corner of West Main Cross Street and Broadway. My parents brought me to Findlay one day that summer to see the sesquicentennial celebration that was going on. We first went to the sheriff’s office to visit my Uncle Carson.

As we sat with him in his office, I remember asking him about the county courthouse across the street. I had admired it on visits to Findlay but had never been inside. He asked me if I would like a courthouse tour. Of course I did, and so he walked me across the street into the Hancock County Courthouse.

Upon entering the courthouse, I was amazed at the spectacle of the streaming light through the stained glass windows, marble stairs, polished brass hand rails, polished woodwork and all the rest of it. I was also very impressed with the tile floors, the dome and the courtroom on the third floor. He gave me a guided tour of each floor.

Uncle Carson told me the duties of each office in the court-house. Every office and every worker were important, he said.

“Public service is an honor and

privilege,” I recall him saying. He told me some history of the

courthouse itself. Needless to say, I was quite impressed.

The memory of that tour stuck with me over the years. I decided I wanted to have a career in public service myself.

After graduating from Arling-ton High School, I went on to col-lege and studied criminal justice. I went on to have a long and won-derful career in law enforcement. I retired as a detective sergeant with the Findlay Police Depart-ment.

In my many years with Findlay PD, I never tired of going to the courthouse. Each time I entered the grand old building, I would recall the tour my uncle gave me in 1962.

I have continued my govern-ment service and currently work as the risk management director with the Hancock County Com-missioners’ Office. Much to my delight, I now have an office in the Hancock County Courthouse itself. As part of my duties, I give historic tours of the courthouse building and I love it.

Each time I have the honor of giving a tour of the courthouse, I can’t help but smile as I remem-ber that summer day in 1962 when Sheriff Carson C. Davis gave me my first tour. As I celebrate over 42 years of government service (and still counting,) I know it all started with that first courthouse tour. — Thomas R. Davis, Find-lay.

In 1962, during the sesquicen-tennial, I worked for two suregons, Dr. H.P. Koehler and Dr. R.J. Tille, both decesased.

Someone talked me into sell-ing tickets to participate in the pageant during the sesquicenten-nial, in which I came in third or fourth and won a Kodak Super M40 camera and a Brownie 310 projector screen.

The top 10 contestants in sell-ing tickets got to ride on the ses-quicentennial float. I also walked in the parade wearing period dresses. I also got to participate in various activities during the celebration.

We all signed our names that were put in the time capsule. My name at the time was Shirley Ward Palmer. — Shirley Scanland, Findlay.

Her name’s inthe time capsule

Photos provided by the Hancock Historical MuseumDURING FINDLAY’S SESQUICENTENNIAL in 1962, a time capsule was buried in the city’s Riverside Park, above, to be opened during this year’s bicentennial observance. For a small fee, the public could put their names in the capsule and even supply some contents (left).

Circa 1970. K-T Equipment Rental, Inc. is the former Blackford Equipment Rental located at 445 Western Avenue in Findlay, Ohio

Circa 1987. K-T Equipment Rental expands its growing enterprise to 835 Western Avenue in Findlay, Ohio

Circa 2009. K-T Equipment Rental, Inc. continues to serve the community after 42 years of growth and service to the Findlay area.

Dedicated to the memory of Tom and Ken Honecker, founders and owners for 42 years and John Wells, friend, loyal employee and manager for 38 years.

835 Western Avenue, Findlay, OH Phone: 419-422-4549

In September 1970, Ken and Tom Honecker purchased Blackford Equipment Rental from Clifford Blackford and became K-T Equipment Rental, Inc. The location at 445 Western Avenue was formerly a foundry. Removal of the foundry smoke stack was the first of many improvements over the years. Ken, employed as a salesman and blaster by Atlas Powder Company, dynamited the structure down.

Tom Honecker, a recent graduate of Ohio State University, took on the challenge of K-T Rental September 1, 1970. John Wells joined the K-T team on January 1, 1971. Tom, Ken and John worked together to establish K-T Equipment Rental, Inc. as a premier small business that emulated the American dream.

K-T began with a small fleet of push lawn mowers, space heaters, air compressors, ladders, hand tools and concrete tools. The small business grew quickly to accommodate the growth of the economy of the 1970s. The inventory expanded to meet the diverse requirements of the construction, industrial and homeowner customer base.

By the mid eighties, the company outgrew its buildings and small lot that was surrounded by streets and the railroad crossing. Three acres were secured one block south on Western Avenue. A new facility was built in 1987. In addition to the main building, it included a paint building, a wash island, fueling station, and a large fenced lot. Another storage building was added just a few years later.

Findlay’s strong economic base provided continuing growth for K-T Rental. Tom’s innovative organization, diverse inventory, and micromanagement kept pace. In the early 1990’s a new face was added to the K-T team, Ricky Rents. Mr. Bill Slack, a local artist and advertising businessman, created the image for Tom and Ken. This iconic trademark appeared on the building and in the advertising as an entertaining and novel strategy to promote the equipment and direct customers on sight. Ricky Rents remains a significant personality at K-T.

Third generation owner, Dr. Curt Honecker, grew up working at K-T Rental, Inc. Curt is co-owner of Valley View Animal Hospital in Dover, Ohio. He depends on the general manager and CPA, Deanna Pahl, for the day to day operation of the rental. Deanna and the K-T team work together to provide clean, mechanically sound equipment and service for the Findlay area.

K-T Equipment Rental’s success is attributed to business integrity, visionary leadership, progressive change, customer service, sweat equity and the meticulous equipment regime established by Tom’s common sense business structure. Tom’s model for equipment rental success is still followed today under the leadership of his son, Curt Honecker.

From Ricky and the entire K-T Equipment Rental team, Happy Birthday Findlay, Ohio.

E7 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012 BICENTENNIAL

Cliff-dwellers of northern Findlay were never bored

Teaching history is telling sto-ries. Sometimes the stories are sad or funny, or they can even make you angry!

However, whenever I get that chance to become the primary source of an era I am teaching my students, I jump at it.

My favorite history teachers peppered the textbook facts with saucy stories, amusing anecdotes and an occasional “true story” that involved them and friends or family. So when I became a his-tory teacher, this was the pathway I chose to follow. Oral history was the first history.

The lesson we had started was about the “Nifty Fifties” and the Cold War years that followed. Being that I was born in 1956 and experienced some of history as purported in our history books, I was eager to spin some tales.

For the most part I mentioned the Civil Defense Corps symbols throughout the downtown as well as the school buildings and the “duck-and-cover” routines we ran periodically in my first few years. Once we got past these insipid parts of growing up in Findlay in the late ’50s and ’60s, the stu-dents asked me how large were my classes during the baby boomer years.

Inquisitive some days, my students wanted to know how I survived having large classes. (I remember that in the first grade at St. Michaels the teachers used numbers instead of names. My number was 42!) They also asked if we got bored as they do many days. Hmmm, bored? Never, even in those days of Eisenhower, Ken-nedy and even Nixon administra-tions.

I grew up on the north side of Findlay, So far north I felt that our neighborhood could have been a separate country. You see I was a “cliff-dweller,” a name given by a Republican-Courier article to the 70 or so children who lived on streets like Southcliff, Northcliff, Woodcliff and even the very short stretch called Briarcliff.

My sister, Leslie, and her good friends, Jennifer Routson, Pat Tipton and maybe even Carol

Hoffman were struggling entre-preneurs in 1969-70. They hatched a plan that would allow parents to shop, garden or whatever by paying my sister and her friends to sit their children, for a fee, of course.

While the rest of us struggled with Kool-Aid, lemonade or even comic book stands, they were one-of-a-kind when it came to the juvenile justices of all businesses, maximizing profits by utilizing an assembly line of sorts. In modern terms, an outdoor day care center!

I believe that it ran mostly on Saturdays and cost only 50 cents for two hours. Included in the fee were snacks (smuggled from our parents?), Kool-Aid (of course), and valuable lessons in creating projects that utilized Elmer’s glue, newspaper and glitter.

It was an instant hit and the girls were counting their quarters and already mentally spending it in the forms of Seventeen Maga-zine, Bonnie Bell make-up, and, perhaps, clothing from the ritzy Paul Harris at our new Fort Find-lay Mall.

My younger brother, Brad, and I were hired to help with set-up, discipline (stop throwing glitter at the girls!), and the favorite, clean-up. I figured it was at least an income I could depend on for my needs. (Another lesson for my students; needs vs. wants.)

Included in the list were sodas from Fout’s carryout, root beer from Bender’s A&W stand on the way to Bernard Park for baseball, and Mad magazine. As for the magazine, my parents didn’t want me to read it because it was a bit too risque for the times.

Peg Dennis from the Republi-can-Courier came to our distant suburb one Saturday and did the story. I believe that the paper ran human interest/local stories on the back page on Saturdays. Joe Thomas took the pictures because that’s what he did for 50 years for the Republican-Courier and later the Courier.

I never made it in the story or the pictures, but my brother, Brad, did as well as my sister and her

friends and neighbor children who now have grandchildren. Time marches on.

I am not sure how long the business lasted or if anyone was dissatisfied with my sister and her partners.

What I do remember was the always evolving, growing and friendly “cliff-dwellers” families who indeed utilized the phrase, “It takes a village, or in our case a neighborhood to raise children.”

For our voices still linger in air, our bicycle skid marks lay beneath new blacktop and our tree fort remnants remain in the now tow-ering oak trees.

There were families like the Wirtzes, Tiptons, Hills, Wells, Neds, Wobsers, Jenningses, Burns, Raths, Hampshires, Hunt-ers, and Allens, followed by the Duncans, Hintons, Routsons, Reynoldses, Stonehillses, Wis-ners, McMennamins, O’Briens. I forgot Billy Herdman, Kent Dier-ksheide, others who followed. We were a nation of baby boomers.

The block parties our parents devised are ever fertile in my mind.

Hickle’s Pony rides, paid for us by Mr. Boyd, in the empty lot behind Petti’s Alpine Village, games and food close by.

I close my eyes as I picture myself blowing on that huge brass tuba borrowed from Mr. Siebert’s front closet, as the 30 or 40 chil-dren march down Southcliff with our block party parade. Bicycles, balloon-tired, Sting-Rays pop-ping wheelies with baseball cards taped by the spokes for that V-8 sound, and trikes spilled into the streets, as our parents clapped and cheered as we passed by.

“Awards” were given at the end as we dropped our bikes, heading for the rides, hot dogs and hugs from our parents.

I try not to swell up in front of my students as I allow myself this memory, a historical diatribe, to answer the question about our generation being bored. Never.

You can always go home, I promise. — Eric Van Renter-ghem, Mount Cory.

Camp meetings were special timesIt was great growing up in

Findlay as a child during the 1930s and ’40s. There are so many things to remember, I don’t really know where to start.

My folks got one of the first Federal Housing Administration loans in the ’30s and bought a very large house up on Summit Street. It had been unoccupied for many years and was considered to be haunted. I don’t remember ever seeing anything or anyone to be scared of. But it was an object of conversation.

There were times of taking turns with playmates on some-one’s backyard tree swing. Going uptown to the Saturday matinee to see a cowboy or Tarzan movie for a nickel.

Also, on Saturdays after the house was cleaned and everyone had their baths, we would head for town to stand on the corners and chat with our friends. We just might then stop at Isaly’s for a cone of rainbow ice cream. Mother would make a stop at Bais-ley’s meat market to buy meat for Sunday’s dinner.

During the summer, we would

put our bathing suits on and head over to Donnell pond to swim and play. As we passed through back-yards, we’d pick up a green apple that had fallen from the tree to eat.

You had to remember to bring a metal baking pan or a garbage can lid with you. We would fill it with water and then climb up the big wooden slide ramp. We had to dump the water down to keep the slide wet. Then we would sit on our metal sled and down the slide we’d go into the water.

I’m sure that many a mom had to remove splinters from their child later at home. There was no need of a towel because by the time we headed home we were all dry anyway.

On a hot summer’s eve, we’d often head for Dietsch’s for some ice cream. You could get a large double dip of ice cream with choc-olate sprinkles or nuts for a nickel. Yummy, my, what a treat!

Of course, there were fun times at Riverside Park with its rides on the train, merry-go-round or Ferris wheel and some more swim-ming. Sometimes we would stop at Wilson’s and have one of their deli-

cious hamburgers and a tall glass of frosty. Yummy, oh, so good!

Last but not least, my most special times were when the Byal Park Camp Grounds were having camp meetings. It was just at the bottom of Summit Street on West-ern Avenue.

They would have children’s meetings during the day while the adults were having their meet-ings. I would go there and spend the day, and often stay for the evening services when there was music and singing such as I had never heard before. The gospel tent overflowed with folks from all over the area.

It was such a happy time of rejoicing and preaching of God’s word. Since all this was during the Great Depression, it gave the people the hope that God was in control and that better times were ahead of them.

There is so much more I could write about, but this will do until the next time I write you my story. What a privilege it was to grow up in a town such as Findlay, Ohio in the ’30s and ’40s. — Barbara Banks, Findlay.

Provided by the Hancock Historical MuseumSOME YOUNG Findlay ladies help out the World War II effort by donating some books to soldiers overseas in the Victory Book Campaign at the city’s old YMCA.

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E8 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012BICENTENNIAL

Settlers move to a ‘vast timberland’My name is Deborah Curtis.

This is an article written by my great, great, great-grandmother, Minerva Decker, in 1901 for one of three daily newspapers: The Republican, Jeffersonian or The Courier. This article was given to me by my Aunt Peg Decker Ellis.

Mahlon and Minerva Decker lived in North Findlay and are buried in Van Buren Cemetery off Ohio 613. Their son, Albertus Decker, built a large Victorian, which burned in 1974, that stood on the corner of now Interstate 75 and Hancock County 99 on the southwest corner. My Aunt Peg spoke of swinging on the horses’ hitching post at the big house.

This is Minerva’s written story:“Upon being asked whether I

could relate any of the early his-tory of this country and the hard-ships which the early settlers were faced with, I will endeavor to give all the information in my power that can be of any possible inter-est. I will not describe the coun-try so much but will describe the manner in which the settlers lived and labored in their endeavor to make a home for their families.

“I was born in Pennsylvania in the year of 1818 where I lived but two years when my father decided to move to the wilderness in Ohio and chop out a farm and home. We settled in Crawford County, which was at that time one great massive forest and here made our home. The game was plenty yet and especially the turkeys. I remember one day mother was sit-ting by the window writing a letter and I was out on the porch when I discovered a flock of wild turkeys coming toward the house. We sat quiet and they went right over the corner of the porch and on past the house to the Sandusky River for water. Many were the times that whole dish pans full of fine wild turkey meat would be thrown away.

“During my childhood days in this country with wilderness abounding on every side, I had no

playmates except the Indian chil-dren who were in our neighbor-hood. They always carried small bows and arrows and would shoot at a mark. An Indian woman near us was confined to her tepee with sickness and mother went over to see her quite often, taking her biscuits, etc. When the woman got well and able to be about again, she made me a pair of fine white moccasins which I would give a great deal for now. We were very poorly clad in those days and they were a very thankful addition to my wardrobe and were therefore immediately put on and worn out. Indians were quite thick around us but were always friendly.

“Just one more incident that happened in my pioneer days in Crawford County and I will then take up the beginning of Wood and Hancock counties as seen and experienced during my after life. My father received a very hard fall one day in which he broke his collar bone and otherwise injured himself and he was confined to the house for a long time. He grew impatient as the days passed and he was still unable to get out. Telling mother to get his gun and come on, he started for some turkeys, being unable to carry the gun himself. He shot one but by this time he was so tired he could hardly get back to our cabin.

“I was married in Crawford County to Mahlon Decker. My husband purchased a track of land out here and came here with the purpose of building a cabin and preparing a home for his family before bringing them. The dismal outlook was too much for him, however, and he returned to us without having done anything in view of making that tractless wilderness the future home of his family. He then endeavored to sell the land he had purchased and give up the idea of settling in this vast timberland. It seemed that others as well as he were not very favorably impressed with the prospect, and his every effort to dispose of this purchase seemed

fruitless. Being unable to dispose of the land, he finally decided to move on it. We packed our belong-ings in wagons and started on our long journey, which before we reached our destination, we thought would never end. Great trees lay across our path and those we were unable to move had to be bridged by piling dirt up on each side. I will not attempt to describe this long and perilous journey, but let it be suffice to say that it was an undertaking that well might make a brave man’s heart weaken when he sighted the hardships to which his family would be exposed.

“Arriving at last at our destina-tion, we stopped at the cabin of an acquaintance who succeeded in making room for us until we could erect our cabin. The family decided then to take a visit and we stayed in their cabin and took care of their children. While they were away we succeeded in clearing three acres of our land on which we planted wheat and also built our cabin. This was the year the settlers suffered the loss of almost their entire crops and we only got three bushels, half of which we again sowed, leaving one and a half bushels for our winter supply. The settlers suffered much this winter for food as they had no money and no crops. In clean-ing our wheat we would put it in a sheet with one end tied to the wall and shake it, turning it round and round. I can well remember also of boiling sugar water many a time all night. We had to work in those days and there was not fooling around about it.

“I never worked in the field helping to clear or farm while my husband lived, unless I had no work for my loom. I remember at one time the children of the people for whom I was to weave cloth were compelled to sit around the fire almost naked until I could weave their cloth. A lady ahead of them, being acquainted with this fact, come to my cabin and told me that they could have her turn

and she could wait. When my hus-band could not work in the fields he would help me weave.

“There were some Indians here yet and I remember one in particu-lar who had 99 scalps hanging at his belt and swore he was going to make it a hundred. A neighbor by the name of Brown vowed to him-self that this Indian would never take this final scalp. A short time after, Brown passed by my hus-band with the remark, ‘he had shot a bear and had thrown it under a log.’ The Indian was never heard of after this and we all understood.

“In 1874, at which time we had begun to be a little more cheer-ful, my husband was taken ill with stomach trouble and died. Left alone with my children to support, I went into the field and farmed, cleared more land and built fences. This was the hardest part of my battle and required a great deal of hard labor. In the meantime my children were fast becoming old enough to help, and things again ran a little better after the discour-agement following our cruel blow in the loss of our husband and father. I am 83 years old and am the mother of 16 children, eight of whom still live. I think by the above the readers will be fairly well acquainted with my history, although this is but a brief descrip-tion of the early life of the men and women who first settled in what is now a progressing county. I will close by adding that I am still able to be out and around and take care of myself.” — Deborah Curtis, rural Findlay.

Foster family had orchards, made fi rst use of natural gas

Jacob Foster Sr. was born on Jan. 14, 1779, in Pennsylvania to Dutch-German immigrants who were from Virginia. He came to Ohio with his parents, who settled on 100 acres of Virginia Military District bounty land lying in what is now Logan County.

This land was payment by the State of Virginia to Jacob’s father for his service in the American Revolution, granted on a Nov. 19, 1802-dated warrant signed by both Jefferson and Madison.

By the time of the War of 1812, Jacob was of age and, like his father, responded to the call to arms, mustering into the mili-tary, as a lieutenant, at Franklin-ton (later Columbus) in Franklin County for service in the “second American Revolution.”

During the war, Jacob dis-covered Blanchard Valley and found it more ideal for farming and orchards than the grant land in Logan County. As a result, he and his brother Daniel sold the 100 acres and moved to Findlay, arriving on Dec. 24, 1828, where Jacob cleared land in Section 6.

Two years later, a deed was let for Lot 64 in North Findlay Town-ship on land that, after 1915, was the Differential Steel Car Co. and is now Rite-Aid and the new Glen-wood Middle School.

Jacob and his family were hard-working farmers whose orchards provided the 100 Findlay fami-lies at that time with a bountiful supply of fruits for many years. To prove his enterprise, when Jacob Sr.’s will was probated two years

after his death on May 27, 1847, his estate was valued at the con-siderable sum of $8,000. Jacob Jr. and his family continued the family farming business until his death in 1891.

Brother Daniel was a harness-maker, establishing his residence and business on the northeast corner of Main and Hardin, cur-rent site of the Marathon Petro-leum Corp. headquarters.

There, he built a cabin and, when digging his water well, hit a gas vein at a depth of just eight feet!

Known locally as being quite a character and enterprising him-self, he decided to tap this natural bounty. He ran pipe from the vein under his cabin to his chimney, where he terminated the pipe in the open fireplace with an old musket barrel.

Daniel used the gas to light his home and his wife used the gas in the summer to make coffee with-out a wood fire. Daniel reported that the pressure of the gas was unrelenting and made quite a flame until forcibly extinguished.

This was the first use of natu-ral gas in the Findlay area, long before the series of wells that led to Findlay being called “The City of Light” in the 1880s at about the time of Daniel’s death.

Later, Dr. Jacob Carr pur-chased the Fosters’ cabin and also used Daniel’s gas rig, which was still in operation.

Both Jacob Sr. and Jr., along with Daniel and their families, are buried in Maple Grove Cemetery.

Some living descendants are John Crouse and his son, Jason of Findlay, Amy Crouse King and Hunter Scott King of Canal Winchester. — Glenn Crouse, Findlay.

Provided by the Hancock Historical MuseumTHE GAS AND OIL CELEBRATION in 1887 (above) commemorated the fi rst anniversary of natural gas being applied for everyday use such as lighting or heat. All of Main Street was illuminated by natural gas-powered lighting which made headlines worldwide and earned the town its fi rst nickname: “The Brilliant City.”

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E9 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012 BICENTENNIAL

Findlay homes were stops on Underground RailroadHow amazing and wonderful

that the Underground Railroad was alive and well in Findlay from 1856 to 1868! Findlay played a sig-nificant role in the Underground Railroad to assist in gaining free-dom for slaves.

Back in our early history, in the mid-1800s, many of the older, classic homes on South Main Street were used as “stops” on the Underground Railroad, en route possibly to Dayton, Bellefontaine or Cincinnati. Those homes were used as safe houses for the tired and weary slaves to obtain food, rest, clothing and shelter.

The owners/residents of these safe houses were quite aware that vicious and determined bounty hunters could knock on the door at any time searching for runaway slaves.

Would those kind and sympa-thetic residents of the 19th cen-tury hide the slaves in a hidden stairway or hayloft? Maybe in a crawl space accessible from a wooden floor that could have been concealed by a beautiful Vic-

torian rug? Maybe somewhere in an attic or a secret place in a car-riage house.

The slaves were assisted by caring and courageous citizens that wanted to do the right thing in advancing the freedom for the slaves. It was both dangerous and illegal to participate in this activ-ity!

Three Findlay residents — a black man, David Adams, and two white men, Joel Merkle and R.B. Hurd — were successful “opera-tors” of the Underground Railroad in Findlay and Hancock County.

These men risked their lives and/or imprisonment to help coordinate the support, actions and activities to help the slaves on their journey to freedom. Some of David Adams’ descendants are still living in Findlay today! The residents of the safe houses and the agents were secretly referred to as “friends among friends.”

Those involved must have been very passionate in the cause for freedom and justice for all. The Underground Railroad was not an

“underground” railroad. It was a path the slaves traveled to reach free northern states or ultimately Canada, which had outlawed slav-ery long before the United States.

The Underground Railroad line that passed through Hancock County began normally with a path from Kentucky to Delaware, Ohio, and on to Carey or Bellefon-taine and Kenton before reaching Williamstown (Bills Town).

From Williamstown, fugitives would be transported to Arlington to John King’s farm, with the aid oftentimes of David Adams. Slaves would then continue their journey to freedom, on to Bowling Green and Perrysburg up to Michigan.

If slaves were able to make it to Canada, they were guaranteed absolute freedom. Bounty hunters could not cross over to Canada to retrieve them.

In the United States, the Fugi-tive Slave Law of 1858 allowed apprehension of the slaves in any of the free states. The short-lived free slaves could be swiftly taken back to the slave owner and to the

unjust and deplorable life that slav-ery offered.

On June 19, the Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center will be having a Juneteenth pro-gram celebrating the freedom of the slaves. Many of these celebra-tions across the United States will include parades, games, crafts, lots of great soul food, dramatiza-tions and reenactments and music.

Slave songs that were widely used as code language and mes-sages to escape to freedom evolved into the Negro spirituals. These great freedom songs evolved into the Negro spirituals. Songs like “Wade in the Water” and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” The Negro spirituals are one of America’s oldest and most original forms of folklore music.

Well, to continue on with the origin of the Juneteenth celebra-tion, “colored” people from Ohio and Indiana held a mass meet-ing to celebrate freedom and to petition for justice for the Negro people in the number of 10,000 in Findlay, Ohio. An invitation was

even sent to Ulysses S. Grant to attend the event, but he regret-fully declined due to other com-mitments.

Here is an excerpt of Grant’s reply: “... If any men in an any land deserve liberty, the protection of their government, and opportu-nity, open, fair, free, and equal, it is the men in America who, after long injustice, injury, and oppres-sion, earned their citizenship by their moderation, and by loyal, heroic service. ... This is a truth which ought to shame every white man in the United States. … Your celebration will help, and should help, to bring the facts into the light. Do not hesitate to make the truth known.

“You must accept my regrets, as I have already more engage-ments for the month of September than I will be able to keep. Fully sympathizing with the colored people of the United States in their efforts to become worthy citizens of a Republic that, theoretically, knows no difference of race, color

or previous condition of its elec-tors and hoping that the day is not far distant when the word ‘practi-cally’ may be substituted for the ‘theoretically,’ I am, very truly yours… U.S. Grant.” The reply was dated Sept. 2, 1880.

Who would have ever imagined that over 145 years later Findlay would have a Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center!

I hope that our Juneteenth cele-bration is well-attended and appre-ciated. How culturally enriching it is to know one’s history and have an understanding and appreciation for others. For more information about the Underground Railroad, or to provide further insight please visit or call the Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center at 419-423-4954. The Juneteenth program will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 19. The donation for the “soul food dinner” and program is $10 for adults and $5 for students. It is free for chil-dren under 9 years of age. — Nina Gail Parker, Findlay.

Each Wagner child inherited a house

My g reat-g randparents , Ludwig and Katharina Wagner, arrived in Findlay from Germany in 1869. Their seven children were born in Findlay. Six of them were born at 200 W. Lima St.!

They purchased lots at 200 and 206 W. Lima St., and 718 and 720 S. Cory St. People asked Ludwig why he was buying so many prop-erties “in the country.”

They kept their cow in a barn behind 718 S. Cory and he took the animal to work with him at a table factory located at the corner of West Lima Street and Western Avenue. The cow was staked out to graze while he worked and they walked home at the end of the day.

In addition to those four houses, he also built two houses on Third Street. While Ludwig was doing this, Katharina was busy being the homemaker and mother. When both passed, each of their children inherited a house. Katharina died of cancer in 1912 at age 61 and Ludwig in 1924 at age 85.

One of our family’s true sto-ries is that Ludwig Wagner split a crow’s tongue and taught it to talk. It followed my Uncle Bob Ludi to school one day, calling his name, “Bob.”

All of the Wagner children had their own homes within a short walking distance from each other. They were very good friends and would visit each other on Sundays. One exception was the son “Gus,” who was the adventurous one who moved to Toledo.

My grandfather, John Ludi, was married to Bertha Wagner. He was a native of Switzerland and a tailor. He worked in Find-lay during the ’40s and ’50s at the Sanitary Cleaning Works on East

Sandusky Street. Never having owned a car, he

walked to work every day, even coming home to 206 W. Lima St. for lunch. He would eat a delicious lunch prepared by my grand-mother, take a 25-minute nap, and then walk back to work.

My grandparents walked to the First Evangelical and Reformed Church every Sunday. It was located on East Main Cross Street. German was spoken at that church in its early years. It was demol-ished to make room for the “new” overpass in later years.

The congregation was able to purchase the beautiful site on Bright Road for a new church. Their denomination became the First United Church of Christ.

As a young teenager, I would ride my bicycle to visit all my grandparents and three of my great aunts, all of whom lived within a few blocks of our fam-ily’s home.

My mother, Ruth Ludi, and her cousin, Martha Hirscher, worked in Mrs. Foresman’s Tearoom in the 1920s. It was located in the large home on West Sandusky Street which is now the Swan House Tearoom. When it closed, Mrs. Foresman gave my mother a beautiful large whatnot stand which is still in our family today.

At a time when most women did not work, Ida Wagner Rogge was employed at Patterson’s Depart-ment Store making draperies and slipcovers. In those days, custom slipcovers looked much like uphol-stery, giving well-worn furniture a new look. When she “retired,” she still created them for customers in her own home. — Anne Snyder Bowden, Findlay.

It was going to be a short-term business venture when Clyde Mitchell and his son, Roy, came to Findlay in 1925. It was because Clyde’s mother, Roy’s grandmother, had become quite elderly. Their intentions were to stay in Findlay until her death.

Having previously been fruit peddlers in southeastern Ohio, here in Findlay they finally became candy wholesalers.

After the untimely death of his father in a train accident while making his deliveries, Roy continued the business on his own.

Roy purchased a new Dodge humpback panel delivery truck in 1936 from H.J. Lamberjack, car dealer in Alvada. This is the truck remem-bered by area residents. It still runs and can be seen driven around the area.

Some shipments came by rail and, in later years, Roy and his young son, Tom, would pick up their candy at the train depot. Sometimes, the candy was shipped on wooden crates.

Mitchell and Son Candy continues to operate in Findlay and the sur-rounding area by Tom Mitchell, the son and grandson of the founders, 87 years later. — Linda Mitchell, Findlay.

Candy company began in 1925

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Celebrates Findlay’s Bicentennial 1812-2012

E10 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012BICENTENNIAL

Findlay memories from ’40s, ’50sI was born in 1938, lived in

Findlay until I was 23, moved to Denver to teach, met my husband, and stayed.

The Findlay, Ohio, of yore was smaller, had a truly viable down-town and was a safe and lovely place to grow up. It also had mos-quitoes, oppressive heat (no A.C. then, just fans and open windows), and humidity.

The humidity put a shine on your face that nothing could con-trol, made drink glasses sweaty and potato chips (Tasty Taters, of course) limp. The mosquitoes made citronella the perfume of choice and the heat was unrelent-ing.

But, we also had the pure joy of catching “lightning bugs” and our “locusts” were considerate enough to shed their skins low enough on the tree trunks to make it easy to pick them off and hang them on our shirts.

Riverside Park offered a place to cool off if our parents couldn’t be persuaded to let us play in the sprinkler. Besides the pool, River-side Park also offered a merry-go-round, a tilt-a-whirl and a Ferris wheel, plus a bowling alley and some arcade games.

We’d ride our bike to “The Donnell” for a day of picnicking and daring to walk the scary rocks over the lily pond. We could have a drink of the spring water that constantly flowed into the pond, and catch sunfish and tadpoles.

Happiness!Findlay also had bone-chilling

winters and dirty snow that never melted.

But, when “The Donnell” froze, we’d grab our skates and head out. The city furnished a warming room under the stadium to clomp into on our skates when we could no longer feel our feet. We built snowmen and went to Lincoln School. That was basically winter.

We read the Republican-Courier every morning and The Toledo Blade at night. The Blade’s Peach section ran a much-antici-pated Santa-themed serial that ran all December. We loved it!

After the war, every Christmas

season we’d make the annual pil-grimage to Patterson’s to choose the doll that we’d ask Santa to bring. Lo and behold, on Christ-mas morning, there she was, under the tree, the very doll we’d asked for. Amazing!

During the war, Patterson’s offered a female Santa. She was OK, but we knew the real Santa was to be found in Toledo.

Fall brought us cool, crisp nights, perfumed with burning leaves, just perfect for the annual Camp Fire skating parties. These all-girl events were held on Broad-way in front of the library. Front Street and West Main Cross were blocked off so we had a safe place to skate.

We’d strap on our roller skates, tighten the clamps on our shoes with our skate keys, and away we’d go around and around until it was time to go home on our vibrating feet.

Blue Birds and, later, Camp Fire, gave us many opportunities to learn what made Findlay tick.

We toured the fire and police departments, the waterworks, the mask factory and the telephone company. There, we saw a row of young women with headsets, busily connecting wires from one spot to another on their consoles. (Number please. Main 364.... resi-dence.) Impressive!

We had the delicious joy of Dietsch’s where a small cone was bigger than any large cone in the world. Wilson’s furnished ham-burgers with everything including catsup, chili and a thick.

To the north on Main Street was the Colonial Nut and Sweet shop for block peanut brittle, and Central Drugs for a cherry Coke or a suicide Pepsi.

I loved to watch the donuts being made by a donut machine in the window of a Main Street bakery. The Phoenix Hotel fea-tured a live lobster tank in its window and you could get fresh hot roasted peanuts from a machine in Kresge’s.

Findlay had three “5&10-cent stores”: Woolworth’s and Kresge’s and Newberry’s.

Woolworth’s had the best Hal-loween costumes. Every Easter, Kresge’s front display window fea-tured what seemed like hundreds of baby chickens all dyed in Easter colors. Thankfully that practice was finally stopped by dint of its cruelty. We never shopped at New-berry’s.

We had a cigar factory by the library to smell when we made one of our constant visits to “our” beloved library. The Old Dutch Beer factory was fascinating. We’d drive to a loading dock to pick up a case of beer for our father and watch the bottles whizzing by on the assembly line. (“Just the Right Touch, Old Dutch!”)

Findlay had four movie the-aters on Main Street: the State and Harris, the Royal and the Lyceum, although we’d only go to three. I mean, who’d go to a theatre called the Lyceum (Lice-eum?)

We had buses to ride to and from downtown. Pulling the cord for our stop was an ego-boosting experience. (Yes, I’ve stopped a bus! Hooray, me!)

We even had a celebrity visit! One of my favorite actresses, Jeanne Crain (State Fair, Margie) came to town for some kind of rally at the courthouse. Of course, we rode our bikes downtown to see her.

The crowd in front of the court-house was huge so we decided on, for us, a daring plan. We figured she had to exit somewhere and we went around back to wait for her to emerge, we hoped. Sure enough, we saw a big car parked ready to carry her away.

A-ha! Our plan had a good chance of working! Heh, heh! We waited and waited until, ta da!, out she came! She climbed into the back seat of the car but stayed long enough to sign auto-graphs and even used my pen to do it. Big time!

Milk from the San-A-Pure Dairy was delivered by horse (ours was named Richard) and milk wagon. Richard knew the route so well the milkman could get off the wagon, make several pickups and deliveries while Rich-

ard walked on, unguided, to the next stop. Well done, Richard!

World War II didn’t really impact us although I remember hearing the distinctive voice of H.V. Kaltenborn on the radio talking about what the Red Army was doing. I liked the Red Army because red’s a pretty color, right?

We had a blue star flag in our window for my uncle, ate Spam, collected grease and took it over to the Second Street Grocery for delivery to the Army. We bought savings stamps at school and my father was an air raid warden.

We had blackout drills that were a bit frightening, but I guess the blackouts and my father helped keep the enemy away from Findlay because we were never bombed.

When the war finally ended (V-J Day) my father agreed to drive us downtown to be eyewit-nesses to history. I remember being stuck in a monumental traffic jam as hysterically happy people poured onto the streets of Findlay to celebrate.

We were glad to be a part of it all, but my poor father had to avoid people and keep us from being hurt as he inched his way down Main Street until he could finally make an escape on Front Street A memorable day for me, but I’m sure my father had very mixed feelings on his participation in the day’s events!

Findlay had an airport with a beacon that flashed green, then white, as it revolved. The city strung Christmas lights over Main Street after the war and I thought they were incredibly beautiful.

We had streetlights that came on at just the right time to let us play under them for a while longer until the inevitable call “Merry-Bet” summoned us home and to bed.

Good, old Findlay! — Merry Gore Valentin, Lakewood, Colo.

During the 1930s, my family, with three small children, lived here in Findlay at 200 Third St., which was only two blocks from the train tracks and, there-fore, we often had men knocking on our back door and asking for food or if they could do some work for food.

My mother would always tell them to wait outside while she would try to fix some food for them.

One day, while my twin sister and I were helping “Mummie” in the kitchen and she was fixing food for a man at the back door, an uninvited beggar slipped in the side door and got into our basement, where

our “Daddie” had a large collection of tools in the laundry/tool bench room.

Fortunately, a young man had been hired by Mummie to crack and shell walnuts. He was work-ing in the furnace room that was farthest from the basement steps.

Suddenly, Mummie heard a door slam and the beggar had run out of the back door without waiting for his food. Luckily, the man cracking walnuts had scared him out and saved us from a possible huge problem. We often had more beggars, but none who tried to enter the house. — Linda Paul, Findlay.

Beggars common during Depression

Photos provided byHancock Historical Museum

FINDLAY’S RIVERSIDE PARK was once a thriving amusement park that was dedicated in 1906 and featured a Ferris wheel, bumper cars and more. Eager children from the early 1950s rush to pick out their favorite animal on the carousel (left) while a young rider is all smiles (above).

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E11 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012 BICENTENNIAL

Findlay’s sesquicentennial as seen by a 10-year-old

Within my dresser junk drawer, amongst the clutter of shoestrings, lighters, and cords, chargers and manuals of outdated electronic devices, is a small but sturdy cardboard box from a long-ago discarded wallet.

In the box I have an assortment of wheat pennies, mercury dimes, half-dollars and such. They are not valuable, but somehow worth keeping. The most valuable con-tents are two wooden nickels from the Fort Findlay sesquicentennial, which bring back fond memories of a happy childhood summer.

I was 10 years old in the summer of 1962, a time of eager discovery and learning. It was the early foundations of what were to become lifelong friendships. The most prized of which was that of my Larkins Street neighbor, Mike Hoffman, known affectionately as “Bones,” as he was quite skinny.

I was the first born in my family, and Mike became my big brother as he was two years older. At such a tender age, two years is a lot of experience. His siblings were older sisters, so I became a brother to him.

We were inseparable, spending hours digesting the baseball stats of his huge card collection, reading over and over his stash of comic books which included “Batman,” “Superman,” “Archie,” “Sad Sac,” “Richie Rich,” and many others. I took pride in my fluency of ape-English learned from gleaning the “Tarzan” comics.

Fifty years ago, television was in its infancy. It was little more than what we now refer to as farmer vision. Of course, we enjoyed the old black and white, late-afternoon movies, which enthralled us with the exploits of Tarzan, Robin Hood, Abbott and Costello, and Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, to name a few.

And there were science fiction classics such as “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” and “Them,” which seemed to be broadcast every other week.

Computers, video games and cellphones were barely imagined the year of Findlay’s 150th birth-day, although “Dick Tracy” did have a two-way wrist radio.

Our neighborhood entertain-ment was mostly daylong baseball games in the spring and summer; weekend football games in the fall; with some hide and seek, kick the can, and card games for variety.

And throwing fights; whatever would fit in our hands we threw at each other. In progression of density, we threw water balloons, snowballs, apples, dirt clods, wal-nuts and rocks. I am often amazed how none of us lost an eye or worse.

The Findlay celebration of its 150th year was big entertain-ment for everyone. I found it odd

that our city would celebrate 150 years; 100 or 200 seemed appro-priate, but 150 seemed peculiar. I remember painstakingly learning the proper pronunciation of the word sesquicentennial.

That was the year I learned of Findlay’s rich heritage: the build-ing of the fort by Col. James Find-lay, the gas boom, Findlay glass and Touch-Tone phones. I dis-covered the many distinguished citizens of Findlay’s past, such as Marilyn Miller, who performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. Marie Dressler, who lived in Findlay as a child, won a Best Actress Oscar in 1931. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once reported for the Findlay Morning Republican.

Of course, everyone knows the story of Tell Taylor. I heard so many renditions of “Down by the Old Millstream” during the sesquicentennial festivities that it sickened me to hear it again.

Thanks to my father’s job at Pittsburgh Plate Glass, my family was afforded the best seat in the house for the huge sesquicenten-nial parade. Perched in a second-story apartment above the store on North Main Street, we watched from above the shoulder-to-shoul-der crowd as the marching bands, color guards and floats passed by for what seemed like hours.

Dignitaries waved from antique cars and trucks, dealer sport cars and luxury autos as they passed by the Western Auto store, Medlock Jewelers, Fashion Fair and other long-missing enterprises.

Many men and women walked the parade route dressed in the garments of days gone by. From the early pioneers to the roaring ’20s, the fashion of each era was represented.

Women strolled in what must have been stifling large hoop skirts and petticoats. The men all wore hats; derby, straw and top, as well as a few coonskin caps. Bow ties and suspenders were all the rage.

The parade included an oxen-drawn covered wagon sponsored by San-A-Pure Dairy. There were horse-drawn carriages, antique bicycles, unicycles and an old high-wheeler bicycle. I especially liked the antics of the Keystone Cops, which provided many laughs along the parade route.

My most cherished keepsake is an old black-and-white photo of my best friend, Mike, posing in

front of one of the missiles that the Army and Navy rolled down Main Street. Believe it or not, even a drab green tank rumbled down our main drag.

My uncle, Dale Gillespie, always presented himself with a pencil-thin, Errol Flynn mustache. As a child I was fascinated by the hair above his lip, as it was so uncommon, but during the ses-quicentennial you couldn’t find a clean-shaven man. There were contests for the longest, curliest and best beards and mustaches. Mustache wax was the hot-test commodity in town as men groomed their handlebars.

A small wooden grandstand in front of the courthouse was the arena of many shows and competi-tions. In addition to the facial hair contests, there were events for watermelon eating, pie eating, hog calling, log splitting, log sawing, nail driving, and on and on they came. The shows included local barbershop quartets, bluegrass bands and country singers.

My favorite was the gunslinger who showed off his quick draw and whip skills. It was only years later that I realized he had to be shoot-ing blanks.

Every downtown shop had a sidewalk sale. Mike and I spent many hours examining their wares. We didn’t have any money to buy anything except a few knickknacks, but it was thrilling to shop on the street. Everything was cheaper 50 years back. If we found a quarter in the road, we could fantasize all day on how to spend it.

Through the course of years, much has changed in our town. Our lives have gone through many phases. Mike and I would travel many different roads, but we always remained the best of friends.

Though we would see each other less, meeting either by chance or design would start hours of conversation about the old and the new, politics and reli-gion, love and hate, and every-thing in between.

I look forward to our bicenten-nial celebration this summer, but I doubt it can match the glamour the sesquicentennial had for me. I will be viewing the events with older eyes and I will miss shar-ing the festivity with my dear, departed, lifelong friend. — Don E. Waaland, Findlay.

Downtown was the place to be

Our family business, Spayth Decorating Co., was located in downtown Findlay from 1948 to 1995. We remember Saturday hours, open until 9 p.m.

It was a time not only to shop for your needs, but a friendly, fun time to meet and greet your neigh-bors and friends and a nice enjoy-able way to end the work week. Downtown was the place to be on Saturday night. — Glenn and Mary Hill, Franklin, N.C.

A pony prize that lasted

Do you remember during the last gas and oil celebration there was a pony named King Gold, a little Shetland pony, given away?

My brother, Glen Wood, dressed as an oil driller, won King Gold and a buggy complete with a bale of hay. The pony gave many a ride for children through the years. He lived to an old age. His master, Glen, was killed in a hay baler accident in 1953. — Lenora Bash, Findlay.

Provided by Hancock Historical MuseumCOMMUNITY MEMBERS from Findlay dance and sing as part of a large pageant held at Donnell Stadium to celebrate the city’s sesquicentennial in the summer of 1962.

Big college benefits in a small college setting.

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E12 THE COURIERMONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012BICENTENNIAL