Comments for Neil Zurcher's One Tank Trips

Comment on Remembering the Pittsfield Tornado by Debra Brandow Castro

Debra Brandow Castro — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:33:27 +0000

Thank you Neil, for remembering this very bad tornado! I have often wondered if I might someday come into contact with any of my friends from those days in the orphange. The original Greenacres Orphange buildings have been torn down. They were located near Oberlin.

Comment on Remembering the Pittsfield Tornado by Neil

Neil — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:50:24 +0000

I don’t doubt that you did. A near-brush with a tornado is a terrifying experience. I have covered or been involved with dozens of them over the last half-century and never ceases to amaze me the destruction and the power contained in these storms.

Comment on Remembering the Pittsfield Tornado by Debra Brandow Castro

Debra Brandow Castro — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:45:29 +0000

I also saw this tornado. I was in Greenacres, an orphange for children. A shutter window on the second story blew open from the force of the wind and dumped rain on the little girl Christine who was sleeping under the window. She screamed for me, all the girls ran to the window, screaming for our housemother Mrs. Clark. As we got to the window it was too late to run, the tornado was coming straight at us. The sky was an erie green and purple, the smell of ozone surrounded us. The tornado was an angry black, large, swirling mass. Sweeping along the earth, destroying everything in it’s path. Just as the tornado was approaching the
girls dorm, it lifted off the ground and went right over our building, leaving us untouched. My grandfather picked me up the following day and we drove to Medina through Pittsfield. I saw a shaft of wheat driven through an oak tree, in the cemetery statute of a soldier on a rearing horse was intact, but his saber was gone from his hand. A home was completely gone except the basement, the concrete front steps and two glass milk bottles sitting perfectly on the steps. I had nightmares for many years through my childhood of this tornado.

Comment on Remembering the Pittsfield Tornado by Russ Krueger

Russ Krueger — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 19:39:12 +0000

At that time, we lived in Medina. We had heard of what happened in Pittsfield, and drove up to see it. I was only 5, but I remember seeing the church steps leading up to where a church used to be, but was no more. It left an indelible impression on me. I can still see it in my mind.

Comment on UNDERGOING SOME RECONSTRUCTION by Mark Teleha

Mark Teleha — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:24:12 +0000

Budget problems result in the discontinuation of a column?

Something’s fishy about that. Glad to hear Fox 8 and the AAC don’t have them.

Comment on The Books by Larry Burge, Director

Larry Burge, Director — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:34:33 +0000

Neil:
This is to suggest that you include The National Heisey Glass Museum in Newark, Ohio as one of your articles. This Museum has over 5,000 original Heisey pieces and a beautiful Museum. I would be pleased to furnish more information if desired

Comment on The Books by Neil

Neil — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:57:44 +0000

Sorry I missed you. My ancestors came from a small town called Steffisburg in Switzerland. That was four generations ago.

Comment on The Books by George Frost

George Frost — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 23:53:14 +0000

I flew gliders with Cleveland soaring for about 50 years and recently became an honorary member. Since my name is Frost and flew the towplane so much I became known as Frosty the Towman. I quit too soon and didn’t get a chance to meet you at Middlefield. I have wanted to ask you for a long time if some of your ancestors were from Zurich, Switzerland. Mine were from Basel.

Comment on FAQ by Neil

Neil — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:49:39 +0000

I don’t know the answer to your question, nor do I have photos of the serpent. I would suggest you contact the Huron, OHio Chamber of Commerce. My sources say that some years ago a local resident and business owner was involved with a sea-serpent hunt and may have been responsible for the sculpture that you saw.

Comment on Komar The Magnificent by Fred Strock

Fred Strock — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:31:03 +0000

Vernon Craig for many years was the head of grounds for the College of Wooster……..mid 60′s to mid 70′s, I think. My first “payroll” job as a teenager was working for him. He and his family lived in a home on Elm Drive in Wooster that he purchased from Dr. Harry Weckesser, DDS. Vernon was extremely industrious and seemed to have a never-ending threshold of energy. At his home he transformed the landscaping into a plush backyard paradise with irrigation and an expansive redwood deck…..years ahead of the pristene landscaping that you see at residences today. In addition to the landscaping that many of us “high-Schoolers” helped him with as a “side job” we also helped him with his magician “tools of the trade.” I remember assisting “Komar” in the fabrication and construction of the “next” generation of “nail bed” …made the radius between nails greater…we used a “jig” that Vernon fabricated to get the spacing exact…there must have been a couple of thousand nails…that were purchased in bulk from the old “Retzler Hardware” in downtown Wooster.

A couple more anecdotes. Vernon was contracted by Rubbermaid to design and install the landscaping at thier new headquarters/warehouse complex in 1968 that was (is) located off of State Route 585 in Wooster…a move from the original Bowman & Palmer St. location. Additionally, I did not realize, at the time, why Vernon Craig was so family oriented and never imbibed any alcohol……He was (is) LDS Mormon…I did not understand the tenants of that faith until my daughter married a Mormon and converted to LDS.

Great memories of a good and decent person!!
Fred Strock, Chandler, AZ

I can also provide Kister Mill stories…my family owned the mill from the 60′s to the 80′s…