Baker Rhea???

Someone once said of me that all I have is a bunch of questions. That may be true. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. So here is another question.

In yesterday's Review in their Out & About feature there was a notice for the Wellsville Area Chamber of Commerce announcing they will be holding a Chinese Auction later in October to raise money for the upkeep and domain name for their web site. Not knowing they had a web site I checked it out. When you enter http://www.wellsvilleohiochamber.com/ that they mentioned you come up with an advertising web page for Baker Rhea located in North Olmstead, Ohio. The logo above was copied from that page. Is Baker Rhea a member of the Wellsville C of C? If you enter dot net you get a search page.

Obviously the Chamber still doesn't have a web site, at least not with that name. Are they in the process of buying this? Why someone up near Cleveland would have a web site under our C of C name is beyond me unless they plan to make money selling it. I don't know how these things work. Maybe someone can explain it for me. In the meantime I will stick to Susie's wellsvilleohio.net.

ole nib

Another Step Closer

Review Reporter Jeremy Lydic brought us news yesterday that Baard Energy has formed a "partnership" with Shell Oil to use their process to convert coal to liquid gas. After a little research I think that "partnership" is more a license agreement allowing Baard to use the Shell owned technology process to produce petroleum from coal. That process is called the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology and its patent is held by Shell Oil. The FT process is named after two German researchers named Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch who discovered the process in the 1920s. Somewhere along the line Shell Oil bought the licensing rights. Over the years the process has been improved and expanded. It is widely used across Europe but Baard is the first USA company to obtain the license. Baard got that license for their new plant being planned right next door to the ville.

In the same article Mr. Lydic reported that Baard has also bought the ten-story gasifiers needed to convert coal to fuel. So there are two very big ticket items that Baard has committed to for the new plant to be built here. In another article Mr. Lydic reported that the Port Authority's Wellsville Intemodal Industrial Park is about to get a crane system for barge loading and unloading. He didn't say when or if it has been bought yet but in quoting Tracy Drake it is beginning to sound like a pretty sure thing.

Little by little as each piece comes together seeing this plant come to the ville area is getting another step closer. Look out when it does.

ole nib

Post note: Who the devil is Jeremy Lydic? Is he Lucille's replacement?

A Debate? I Like That Idea

My friend Matt Stewart at ORL has suggested more than once that a debate between mayoral candidates Dave Lloyd and Joe Surace be held. I like the idea and think it would be an added attraction to both of their campaigns. If it ever came about it certainly would be informative and could even be a fund raiser for someone like the Democratic Party organization or any other organization that would care to sponsor such an event. Some neutral club like the Alumni Association could be a possible sponsor. Whoever could charge a minimal admission fee to cover the costs.

It could possibly be held at the WHS auditorium where there is a stage and sufficient seating. For narrators I would suggest Matt Stewart himself, Jo Ann Bobby Gilbert and recently retired reporter Lucille Huston. All three of these folks use to be Wellsville beat reporters for our local papers and they are very familiar with our fair village. Ms. Gilbert now covers East Liverpool for the MJ but I have a feeling she is staying in tune with the happenings down this way. I think all three of these folks are responsible people and could compile an interesting list of questions for the candidates.

Each candidate could be allowed something like a three minute introduction, one minute response limit to each question and another three minute summary to end the debate. That way it would not only be informative but it would be fast moving too.

Personally speaking there are some aspects I like about each of the candidates and there are also some things I don't particularly like about each of them. Right now I'm undecided but I think a public debate could very well help me make up my mind. It's a new idea for a Wellsville mayor candidate but it's not an idea that is new to politics. All we need is for one of the civic minded Wellsville organizations to step up to get the ball rolling.

ole nib

Thoughts Bouncing Off My Window V

It's been kinda of quiet in this sleepy river village. Translated it's been down right boring. There hasn't been much fodder for the blog mill. Except for a couple of Dave Lloyd supporters there hasn't been any campaigning going on. I mean nothing - no ads, no signs that I can find. As announced on ORL Dave Lloyd got a web site up and running for his mayoral bid. Sparky used that to give Dave a backhanded endorsement on the WHS Alumni web site. Other than that there has been nothing - nada, zero, ziltch. Here it is almost six weeks until election and I thought this was going to be an exciting one. Maybe things will heat up in October.



There wasn't even a council meeting to comment on this past week. For the lack of a quorum the regularly scheduled meeting was cancelled. Mayor Joe indicated there might be something on the police department thing this week. Lucille Huston told us there was a final interview to be conducted this past Tuesday. No meeting. No reports. Nothing. Yawn...



Eagles Aerie Demolished
The most exciting thing I've seen in the past few weeks was the knocking down of the Eagles Club on Main Street. It happened a week ago last Saturday and was done by Extreme Trucking & Excavating. They brought down the three story structure part in one day. According to news reports the building was well over 100 years old and the back wall was beginning to buckle out which presented a very hazardous situation. This one won't become a parking lot. From what I've been told the Eagles plan to rebuild once funding is secured. I think that building was home to the first MacLean's Funeral Home. I remember the story old "Cap" MacLean told me years ago how his father use to bring bodies across the river for their WV customers on a flat boat skiff to prepare them for their funeral. "Cap" said he had to help carry them up & down the river bank. I don't think he was pulling my leg and I believe he was talking about the Eagles building.



Anyway, Susie Haugh has pictures in her A Changing Wellsville section on http://www.wellsvilleohio.net/ if you want to see more. By the way Ms. Kaiser, the word is aerie as in a lofty nest of any large bird, a nest of a bird of prey such as an eagle or a hawk. It is pronounce air-eee. The demolished building was the home of Eagle's Aerie 772, not Area 772 as you reported.

Holly Development Construction Wellsville LLC
This is a new business that located in the old Perpetual building on Main St. According to the picture in The Review "the business specializes in land acquisition for major real estate development". Other than the names of the owners and other principal personnel there's not much information to be found on the company. I guessing the company is getting in position to be a major player in the future developments when Baard Energy comes to town. When Baard gets the green light there's going to be a flurry of activity all around the area. At any rate we wish Holly Development the best and it's nice to see them locate in the heart of the ville.

Wellsville Hall of Famers
Last Wednesday there was a picture of this years inductees in the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame in the MJ. There wasn't an article about the inductees and I couldn't find any information on the Alumni site about them other than the year they graduated. I remember Tommy Wilson being a terror on the basketball court and sort of remember something about Greg Pullie being a fleet footed track star. Both Wilson and Pullie were in the Class of '84. "Spike" Carter (Class of '54) doesn't ring any bells. From the picture on the plaque I'm guessing his claim to fame was on the gridiron. I remember folks talking about "Chub" Carter from my younger years. Any relation?
Class of '31 Nance Checkler was way before my time. It looks like he was also a football star and that was in the days before they had good padding in the helmets! Maybe you readers can help us out here. It would be nice to know the story about these folks and why they were chosen.

The Pete Amato Memorial Boardwalk
If you haven't been up that way lately it appears that the boardwalk is nearly completed. The flooring is all done and the railing is up. If you walk out onto the deck that was installed over the old bridge abutment and look up you can see a lovely view of the underside of the Route 7 overpass. However if you turn around you can get a nice view of the latest additions of the floodwall murals. At any rate it's a nice addition and complements the floodwall murals. I imagine Susie will be updating her pictures in the near future.

11th Street Playground
Casey Barto reported that the playground is to be dedicated to the late Bill Yost. Mr. Yost maintained that playground across from his house for years and kept it in good shape. His efforts were all volunteer and many folks passing by didn't even know who he was. As was his way he just took it upon himself to take care of the place without any thoughts of being paid. That's the kind of guy he was.

ole nib

Another Ohio Floodwall Mural Project

Guess we're not the only ones with murals painted on our floodwall. In an article entitled 2000 feet of art in the September/October edition of Our Ohio magazine is the story of the murals in Portsmouth, Ohio. These murals are a continuing work of artist Robert Dafford and, the same as Wellsvilles, depicts the history of Portsmouth. He started his project in 1992. You may be familiar with Mr. Dafford. He is the artist that did 25 murals in downtown Steubenville years ago.

The picture above was copied from the Portsmouth web site. Portsmouth is another Ohio River town in the southern part of the state. Review reporter Holly Stefanoff wrote that Wellsville had the "only functioning floodwall in Ohio" but it appears that is not quite the case. Portsmouth's flood wall is 2o feet high and from what I can see in this picture it is apparently functional when the water level is up.

Portsmouth's mural project got started after a Portsmouth couple saw the murals in Steubenville while visiting there. They went on to form a volunteer group called Portsmouth Murals Inc. that raises money to support the project. They tout it as a tourist attraction. From what I saw in the article and on the web site there are some beautiful and interesting scenes but I like the ville's better. It's our home.

Been There - Done That

As we all know the Buckeye Water District is in the process of building a new water plant and pumping station to supply water to the ville and all their other customers. When it goes into operation we will be getting our water from the river. The new water plant is out off Route 45 next to the Red Brick Church and the pumping plant is being built on the old tin mill land near the mouth of Little Yellow Creek.

As far back as I can remember we had always got our water from the reservoir. Believe it or not the reservoir is fed by Little Yellow Creek and at one time Wellsville water was considered the best and the purest in the state. However, the history of public supplied water goes back a bit further than my memory and Edgar Davidson had a good account of it in his book entitled Before The Memory Fades. There was a little written in the booklet City of Wellsville In Black and White but Mr. Davidson seems to have paraphrased and incorporated into his account what was written there.

With Wellsville growing by leaps and bounds it was determined that a water system was needed and in 1874 a special election was held. By a vote of 334 for and 39 against it was decided to go ahead with such plans. Things didn't move too fast back in those days either. Three years later in 1877 a Pittsburgh consulting engineer was hired to draw up plans for a public water system. His plan was to dam up the 10th Street stream and built a second dam further up on the hill "in the flat area" to supply Wellsville. This plan was rejected by the city fathers. The 10th Street stream is still there and I'm thinking the flat area mentioned is part of Springhill Cemetery. There was no cemetery up there 130 years ago.

In 1879 an ordinance was passed authorizing the construction of a water works, reservoir and laying of pipes. I couldn't determine where this reservoir was to be located. In 1881 council authorized the sale of $30,000 in bonds to pay for this and later an additional $10,000 was added. Fire hydrants must have been part of the plan. In 1884 an ordinance was passed concerning the tampering of fire plugs. Sometime in this era a pump station was built adjacent to the present day Jim Kenney Center. This is probably where the hump for the flood wall is today. Raw, untreated water was pumped from the river to supply the town.

Sometime around 1900 it was decided to spend $75,000 dollars for a "modern water works plant" which was to go into operation either in 1904 or 1908 depending on which book you read. Cast iron filter wells filled with gravel were sunk to the bed of the river. River water was allowed to "percolate" through these wells and then be pumped to a reservoir 320 feet above the city. Then by force of gravity the water supply was put into the system to supply the ville's residents. The building that is the Jim Kenney Center was built to house the pumps and machinery for this "modern water works". Here I thought that building originally had something to do with the railroad. The only problem back then was there still wasn't any filtration of the water. If the river was muddy, as it often is, the supply of water was muddy. Several public wells were drilled around town. When Mr. Davidson wrote his book he said there was only three left that he knew about. Today the only one I can locate is the one pictured above at 6th & Broadway. Most of the houses in those days either had their own wells or cisterns to collect rain water. Those that didn't shared with their neighbors. I have a brick lined cistern in my back yard. People that lived between 6th and 7th Streets on Buckeye Avenue tapped into a natural spring 200 feet up the hillside and had crystal clear water. Back then Buckeye was called Hill Street.

By 1920 the water supplied from the river had gotten so muddy and polluted that it was decided to use the water of the Little Yellow Creek. Twenty-five acres was purchased at an elevation of 900 feet which is some 200 feet above the sea level of Wellsville's 708 feet. Construction of a dam for the present day reservoir was started in 1923. When that went into operation the water supplied to the ville was chlorinated. Highlandtown Lake was to be an emergency source of water in case of a severe drought. In late December of 1938 a filtration plant was put into operation for this reservoir. It was the first time in our history that the residents of the ville was supplied with filtered water. The one million gallon water tank up on Highland Avenue was built then as part of the new developments in 1923.

So you can see that just about for all of us the only source of water we have ever known is water from the reservoir. Getting water from the river is new to us but as they say history repeats itself. We have been there before with our grand-parents and great grand-parents. The river provides an abundant supply of water. This time the water will be filtered and treated. The pumped pictured above is a historical monument of the ville's public water system. Yea, we've been there...

ole nib

"You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Us Lucille"

Today's The Review had a farewell column from Reporter Lucille Huston. As we all know Mrs. Huston has been the Wellsville beat writer for the newspaper the last few years and in my opinion has done an admirable job. She reported this is the third time she is leaving The Review. I remember one other time but can't recall the other. She told us she first started her reporting career 39 years ago in 1968. Having never attended college I would say that was a pretty remarkable career. This day and age they won't even look at your resume unless you have some sort of degree. Well, Lucille, after 39 years in the newspaper business you can at least claim an honors degree from the "College of Hardknocks". You've earned it.

I have often questioned the unanswered questions when reading some of Mrs. Huston's articles either here or just to myself. From reading her column today I think I understand where those unanswered questions came from. Her biggest regret in leaving is a list of things that have yet to be resolved in her coverage area. She lists out a few and I imagine there are more that she didn't mention. I guess what she is trying to tell us is that the competence of your work is only as good as what you have to work with. People tell a reporter only what they want you to hear, especially if those people are politicians. In spite of the Sunshine law there is still a lot done behind closed doors away from the eyes and ears of a reporter.

So Lucille, I apologize for any uneasiness I may have caused you through this blog. Kick you feet up and enjoy your retirement. From what you told us of your plans it doesn't sound like you're going to have much time to sit back and relax. Enjoy your family and may the good Lord keep you in good health. At least you didn't leave four hungry children in the field.

Vaya con dios my friend.

ole nib