Scarecrow Season

Temperatures are dropping, pumpkins are picked, and leaves are falling. Three of the many signs that Fall has arrived. However, this particular Fall is warmer than usual, but I have heard no complaints. Despite the not so Fall-like weather, Autumn activities are fully underway. Haunted houses, hay rides, and corn mazes are popular attractions for this time of year, but have you ever decorated a scarecrow?

The Clark County Heritage Center Scarecrow for 2017
Photo Courtesy of Natalie Fritz

The city of Springfield has found a unique event for the whole community. Project Scare-A-Crow is a contest where nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies make a scarecrow, and community members vote on their favorite one. Under the joint management of Project Jericho and National Trail Parks and Recreation, creative minds come together to make scarecrows of themed characters. In 2016, participants had to decorate their scarecrow in the likeness of a US President. They are not designed to scare anything, but are a way to put a fun spin on an old tradition. The scarecrows are placed in National Road Commons Park, where people have a week to vote for their favorite one, and first through third place winners receive prizes.

The Clark County Heritage Center is participating in this program again this year, and hopes their scarecrow can win. Last year, volunteer and staff decorated their scarecrow to look like President Ulysses S. Grant and had to provide an interesting fact to go with him. This year the participants have to create a traditional scarecrow and must include a crow. Having the opportunity to help with Grant the previous Fall, I can attest to the fun of making a scarecrow and the thrill of the competition.

This program is a great way for those who participate to advertise, and be involved with the community. Also, downtown Springfield gets some homemade decorations for the Halloween season. Activities like this allow people to participate in their community, and Project Scare-A-Crow is a festive tradition that will hopefully continue for many years to come.

By Julie Hale

Source:

Turner, Brett. “Look for Scare Crows to Take Root in Downtown Springfield.” Springfield

News-Sun. October 4, 2017.

Putting the Bear in Context

Muggins the bear fell to her death in Clifton Gorge. However, this is not the most tragic part of her story. Living along the roadside, Muggins was a tourist attraction who was gawked at, and had a diet similar to that of Buddy the elf. One night she escaped her cage and fell into the nearby gorge. If you are wondering, “how could this possibly get any worse,” well, it does. The men who found her, somehow came up with the idea to light her body on fire. Shortly afterwards, members of the Dayton Society of Natural History heard about this black bear, and made their way to Clifton. In the name of science, or maybe to brag to other museums that they had the skull of a black bear, they chopped off her head and added Muggins’ skull to their collection.

Photo Courtesy of Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve

Today, the skull of this black bear resides in the Biology Collection at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery. Having heard the story and seen the skull, I wonder about these events and think something like this would never happen today. Two month old Muggins was a gift for Mr. and Mrs. Grindle from a friend and owned her for forty-one years before her death in 1968. Society has since recognized the dangers and wrongfulness of owning a wild animal and people would be appalled if their neighbor kept a bear caged along the roadside for any passersby to feed it junk food. Muggins was a pet very much loved by her owners, which sheds light on the fact that society did not see anything wrong with this.

Then, for someone to set the corpse on fire, sounds like the persons were inebriated, and lighting the body on fire seemed like a good idea at the time or they just wanted to see what would happen. Additionally, the men from the Dayton Society of History thought it more important to chop off the head for preservation rather than find a way to put out the fire. A person today would likely find these events strange and horrific and hard to believe that someone would do such a thing. But forcing ones judgement on past people is unfair, and history requires us to view the past within the context of the times in which people lived.

By Julie Hale

Source:

Burns, Bob. “‘Muggins’ is Loose in Clifton Gorge.” Xenia Daily Gazette, June 7, 1968.

Tippecanoe Place

Growing up in South Bend, Indiana, I realized at a very early age that there were several power players within the city that made it what it was today. One of those families was the Studebaker families. The family originally created covered wagons taking settlers to the West and then later switched to automobiles. In 1884, Clem Studebaker decided to build  mansion that showed the success of his wagon industry and plans commenced to build the mansion that would wow the city. The family moved into their 24,000 sq ft home consisting of 40 rooms in 1889. The family spent $250,000 for construction and $100,000 for furnishings. In today's currency, construction of the mansion would be $6,352,204.40 and $2,540,881.68 for furnishings. The building still sits on the corner of W. Washington and Taylor Streets today.

 Clem Studebaker's Magnificent Mansion

While the house was lived in by members of the Studebaker family until 1933, the property shifted. From 1947- 1970 the house was Occupied by the E.M. Moris School for Crippled Children. The property was then restored by Southhold Restorations and finally in 1980 became a restaurant.
If you were to go to the old Studebaker mansion today, you would find a restaurant within its walls. Guests can sit in bedrooms, sitting rooms, and verandas enjoying food and drink where the Studebaker family and distinguished guests such as President William Henry Harrison sat. Harrison's catchy campaign slogan was "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" and it is said that the unique home was named Tippecanoe place after Clem's close friend, William Henry Harrison. Walking through rooms with large chandeliers, beautiful fire places, and exquisite wood work, you can feel the elegance of the family that once lived in this house. You can almost feel the guests making their way up to the third floor ballroom for a night of music and dancing. If you are ever in the area, make a trip to see this landmark. Their chocolate mousse is to die for!

Sources 

http://www.tippe.com/about/
http://www.in2013dollars.com/1889-dollars-in-2017?amount=100000

Picture

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/54/2b/ef/day.jpg

A New Way to Support the War Effort

"There's an old saying, 'Girls can't play baseball.' We proved them wrong," said Dolly Konwinski in an interview with the South Bend Tribune. Koninski played baseball for a number of teams including Battle Creek Belles, Chicago Colleens, Grand Rapids Chicks and Springfield Sallies.Over the course of 12 years, 14 women's teams started in larger cities in the Midwest, forming the All- American Girls Professional Baseballs League (AAGPBL).

                                Pictured: Mary "Bonnie" Baker of the South Bend Blue Sox

Most men joined the armed forces during World War II and sports nearly came to a halt. In a time when women in sports was unheard of, Phillip Wrigley started a women's baseball league during World War II as a means of entertainment. Ladies from around the country got out of their kitchens and supported the war effort in an entirely different way- through keeping up the hopes of the home front. 

The South Bend Blue Sox was one of the original 4 teams inducted into the AAGPBL and remained in the League until it's disbandment. Today the History Museum in South Bend, IN is the national repository for all items related to the AAGPBL. 

Sources

"AAGPBL." The History Museum. Accessed October 25, 2017. 
     http://historymuseumsb.org/research-history/aagpbl/.


Fosmoe, Margaret. "Women pro baseball players gather, reminisce in South Bend Women 
     professional baseball players gather, reminisce." South Bend Tribune, August 7, 2015. Accessed 
     October 23, 2017. https://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/history/women-pro-baseball-
     players-gather-reminisce-in-south-bend/article_218cc831-cdf2-5105-8b42-d15bee181766.html.

"Photos: All-American Professional Girls Baseball League in 1945."       http://time.com/3760024/women-professional-baseball/.

Small Farm Becomes Big Attraction

Living ten minutes away from Young’s Jersey Dairy made it the go to place for celebrating Birthdays or Tuesdays. Over the years, Young’s has changed and expanded most significantly. Starting out selling fresh Jersey milk to the locals, the Young family could never have imagined their farm as the booming business it is today. Their famous ice cream was being served out of the newly built dairy store in 1960. The Young’s kept growing their business to include a bakery, eventually expanding into a new building. Not only could visitors buy milk, cheese, and ice cream, but baked goods and sandwiches too. Young’s was shaping into a farm style restaurant and developing rapidly, accommodating the increase in visitors. They even built a full service restaurant, embracing the country life that surrounds it.

1979 Dairy Store Dining Room

Food is not the only attraction at Young’s. The 1990s saw many activities emerge, including the miniature golf course, driving range, and batting cage. Plus, people have the opportunity to feed the goats and visit some of the animals in the barn. The Jersey cows can usually be seen in the fields and are the iconic image for Young’s, especially the big plastic one on top of the sign. This place offers so much, and the community benefits from having Young’s where families spend time together and friends hang out, enjoying each other’s company, for the most part. Every time I drive past, the parking lot is full and the attractions are crowded, and despite the very touristy feel, it still holds onto those family owned ideals.

1962 Aerial View

This small town farm turned into a landmark recognizable across the state. When I tell people I am from Yellow Springs I receive a number of responses, including, “is that the quirky, hippie town” or “that’s where Young’s is.” Well, something along those lines. The point is that, Young’s Jersey Dairy is well known, at least in the state of Ohio, and is a mixture of a small town farm and theme park. As touristy as it is, those country roots reflect the change in the community from farm to business.

By Julie Hale

Source

“History of Young’s Jersey Dairy.” Young’s Jersey Dairy. Accessed October 12, 2017.

            https://youngsdairy.com/our-history/.

Greetings Earthlings, Take Me to Your Futuro House

Home to about 4,000 people, the village of Carlisle, OH is a place of almosts and in betweens. In between Dayton and Cincinnati, almost big enough to be a city. Sounds like your typical Ohio small town, right? Almost. Juxtaposed behind one of the town's numerous corn fields and a 19th century farmhouse sits something in between the known and the unknown: a spaceship.

Photo courtesy of Lyinn Wolf:   http://lyinnwolf.blogspot.com/2012/09/

Growing up down the road from "the spaceship house", it served as a local landmark for directions, a source of quirky small town pride, and as the foundation for more than one April Fools joke by local newspapers and nearby parks. Although it was a constant comfort, the spaceship house was also somewhat of a mystery. It is a private residence, but no one in town seems to know who lives there or how long the house has been in Carlisle.

What is known however, is that the house is an example of a Futuro House, a late 1960's invention by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. He began marketing the design as a portable and quick to heat ski cabin that could be easily transported across difficult terrain. Suuronen envisioned his Futuro House as a popular, cheap, mass produced home that could be used across the globe. What Suuronen was not prepared for however, was the intense backlash to the design and aesthetic, many believing it to be simply too ugly to exist alongside the beautiful mountain scenery of Finland. Coupled with the 1973 oil crisis that made the production of plastics extremely expensive, the Futuro House ceased production and only around 100 were estimated to have been built. Only around 20 survive today, most in disrepair or in museums, however a few are still owned by private individuals, like the house in Carlisle. The Carlisle Futuro House has the distinction of being possibly the only double Futuro House in existence. Somewhere along the way, two Futuro Houses have been linked by a metal walkway to create the infamous roadside attraction.

Photo by Krista Dunkman

How the Futuro House came to Carlisle we may never know, and rumors surrounding its history are varied. Some say the house was once a single Futuro and used to sit at the Wright Brothers Airport in Springboro, OH. Others say the house used to be a donut shop until the second Futuro was flown in by helicopter, then linked with the first to become a private residence. For the town of Carlisle, the unknown origin of the spaceship house seems to be part of its appeal, with multiple blogs and websites dedicated to uncovering any shred of evidence about the house's narrative. For now though, the history of Carlisle's Futuro House will remain somewhere in between fact and folklore.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

http://www.thefuturohouse.com/Futuro-Carlisle-Ohio-USA.html

https://www.ohiomagazine.com/ohio-life/article/-the-futuro-house