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The Hat and the Tour Guide- CVSI- Lorain

A ghost of history remaining

Part One

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-chair-of-wom-pass-the-hat-part-one/

Part Two

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/the-chair-and-the-captain-cvsi-lorain/

Part Three

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/the-captain-and-the-hat-cvsi-lorain/

Part Four

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/catching-up-with-the-hat-cvsi-lorain/

The Hat curious as to what all the fuss was about with this Lorain’s oldest neighborhood and now very attached to Frank checked out the information on the brochures desk. He found the “Guided Tour Book” and realized “he ” would be available ( if he stuck with Frank) to give guided tours :

The Hat (tip) to Frank Sipkovsky and the Outreach and Promotions Committee of Charleston Village Society- should you wish a guided tour and a walk through a “history of settlement ” please call 440-960-2301.

To be continued ……….

March 6, 2014 at 12:09 pm 1 comment

March 3rd- feeling the energy- Chris Ritchey

The domain in the garden past the pond

is a place I don’t frequent- it was and is your father’s “area’ and like his basement not a place I care to go or for which to take responsibility. The Weeping Willow hid a lot of his sins- but that too had to go last spring.

I still kept to my end of the garden and closed my eyes to the time it was taking to get the garden back into some sort of order. The truth be told I no longer had the “energy to fight the blight” that is the male idea of “need.

But one day , late last summer , I could stand it no longer and I had to do “something’ to tidy up. I moved the wrought iron trellis which had been leaning up against the garden wall. I positioned the trellis by the side of the garage over the curve in the pathway by the boat. Hopefully this would hide the “boat” from my view, a job the Willow did so well. I took the grape vines that were in abundance and tied them up on to the trellis. Then, as I precariously stood upon the step-ladder, I turned toward the garage to tie in the next side of the trellis. My eyes became fixed , not really taking in what I was seeing – they saw where you had left your name in paint on the garage wall.

Unexpected, as it was, the effect was instantaneous I felt my knees buckle , my breath catch, and those eyes that have cried so many days and nights filled once more with tears. I was transported back from the present once again, in the memory of my mind, to another place and time where once again we walked, talked, hoped and waited in vain for a cure ………..no work of art ever touched me so profoundly as that signature .

Oh! the explanation is simple enough you were , that spring , helping your father to paint the side of the garage – but everything went wrong – cancer and chemo put paid to painting but not before you had taken a brush and used your energy to write your name in the old paintwork.

Your father told me that he couldn’t bring himself to paint over your name so there it has stayed these many , many months, unbeknownst to me, as I never venture past the pond if I can help it. .

I can still see the energy you used in the writing of your name , the pressure of the brush to wood, the adding of paint to the brush as you proclaimed “you were here at that time” .

Not being an artist or an art critic, I was always a little perplexed when I would hear ” the energy of the brushwork”- but here it was – not a Van Gogh or even a Boccioni http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Boccioni
or Julia Watkins https://www.facebook.com/pages/Energy-Artist-Julia-Watkins/69027658560

Chris Ritchey

Just a young man on a warm spring day leaving his mark on the garage before he painted over it -something that never happened. Yet, seeing your name, left there these many months brought home once more how I much I still love you , a love that grows and doesn’t diminish , miss you, your laughter and your energy

My heart is in pieces and I miss you more than life itself………. and yes it is “Hard” harder than I ever thought possible to bear.

Artwork Chris Ritchey

March 3, 2014 at 12:00 pm 3 comments

What Happens when you hit Publish instead of Preview

Half way through the previous post on the Hat and I hit Publish instead of Preview icon – so those that follow this blog by email got the draft version- Sorry here is the somewhat NOW hastily completed Part 4 http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/catching-up-with-the-hat-cvsi-lorain/ Loraine

February 28, 2014 at 4:00 pm Leave a comment

Catching up with the Hat- CVSI Lorain

photo Mark Teleha

Part One
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-chair-of-wom-pass-the-hat-part-one/

Part Two
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/the-chair-and-the-captain-cvsi-lorain/

Part Three
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/the-captain-and-the-hat-cvsi-lorain/

Part 4.

Not wanting to be the receptacle for Gull guano the hat followed Frank Sipkovsky from the Settlers’ Watch site -

1st stop was the CVSI – Out reach and Promotions Committee
On Saturday, October 19th The Lorain County Preservation hosted Preservation Exhibition at the Black River Landing, 421 Black River Lane, Lorain, OH This is an opportunity to showcasing and learning about preservation activities that are occurring around the County.

The Hat was glued to Frank at this event in the mix of meet and greet :

2nd stop October 24th -2013
The Spitzer Conference Center at Lorain County Community College and “Lorain County Reads” with 14 other Historical Societies and guest speaker Neil Zurcher promoting his new book Tales from the Road

The Hat still attached to Frank, decided to take a closer look at Neil’s Traveling companion

Although Frank tried to hide the Hat was quicker

Photos Renee Dore

Frank was still hiding out in November once again at Black River Landing and this time the International trees display for Light Up Lorain under the auspices of the Lorain Tourism Council ( Lorain Growth Corp) The Hat tries many heads

BRL Photos Lisa Miller

but Frank ( no matter where he tried to hide)

it seems was the “go to guy” ( as we all know )

The Hat soon learned a lot about what had been happening in this neighborhood over the quarter of century Charleston Village Society has been trying to preserve the history and quality of life of this Lorain’s oldest neighborhood
To Be Continued

February 28, 2014 at 3:49 pm 4 comments

The Captain and the Hat ! CVSI Lorain

WoM Logo by Scott Baklar

Part One
http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-chair-of-wom-pass-the-hat-part-one/

Photo Mark Teleha

Part Two

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/the-chair-and-the-captain-cvsi-lorain/

photo Mark Teleha

A now the tale of The Captain -
He took his place at Settlers’ Watch along with the carvings of the Lorain Lighthouse, The Anchor, The Lorain Portside Sign , The Heron and Eric Barnes’ Eagle

It was rough, very rough we had a lot to deal with in those first months but the carving and the work continued: The full pictorial can be found here from start to the dedication.
http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=390

( photos Mark Teleha)

The volunteers and those that donated so much time, effort, plants and hardscape got the area ready for the dedication August 1st 2009.
The summers and winters passed and The Captain suffered:

October 2013 found us up a ladder again

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/captain-chronicles-settlers-watch/

The Captain was being eaten alive from the inside out and losing the battle of the seagull guano.

Unfortunately, just last week I noticed the stanchion on the ground -the wood had rotted, in fact his whole ship’s wheel, was hanging on by a thread he was sounding decidedly hollow. We checked the other carvings they seem to be fine except the root bases of the ones on the tree lawns which is to be expected.

After searching on the internet we found http://conservepoxy.com/ Paul of Conservepoxy spent a great deal of time with me on how the process works and what we need to do. Also Andy from Sherwin Williams came to the site and is also looking for ways to help us for which I am eternally grateful http://www.sherwin-williams.com/

The “crew” filled him with chemicals and had to plug the holes with corks until spring arrives. The chemicals have definitely changed his complexion –

we added a hat to try to keep the sea birds and their bathroom habits away- but the hat decided it liked travelling a little better than being a guano inhibitor- felt it might have a worthier purpose…..

The Then and Now

a Captain waits….. and the hat travels where?????

Photo Lisa Miller
to be continued

February 24, 2014 at 5:05 pm 4 comments

The Chair and the Captain – CVSI- Lorain

Yes as Chairs go …. the Chair went …. one last look and he was gone…….

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-chair-of-wom-pass-the-hat-part-one/

photo Mark Teleha

BUT before he went he met up with The Captain -The Chair was a little worse for wear at this time – he had traversed the world of politics , been involved in erroneous media reporting and no one comes out unscathed even “The Chair”.

photo Mark Teleha

The Captain was just starting his journey primed and ready to take his place- only the place was not ready.

http://www.locophotogblog.com/?p=151

So ,instead of a few weeks, it was nearly a year. The Captain sat bleaching on the hot concrete in full sun and “exposed” to all of the elements , until finally his home on the shores of Lake Erie – Settlers’ Watch was ready

Photo Paula Tobias

The volunteers and the City of Lorain spent countless hours undoing the damage done to the site by the need for storage space for the new sewers and water lines.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heneryhawk/sets/72157602814176200/

One last look at the Lighthouse and a Lake Erie Sunset – memories of what once was and The Chair is hopefully at peace………

Photo Mark Teleha

But The Captain’s troubles were just beginning .

To Be Continued……….

February 20, 2014 at 2:18 pm 3 comments

Lorain Dudes – Disney and YOU Nana!!!

There isn’t a great deal of an age difference between us- 90 and 93 years…. but we know what you like and how to make you smile !

http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/happy-happy-95th-birthday-mum/

We have decided to give you a preview of the part of your Disney Musical Night and how we got ready for it -.

You see we have been practicing- we checked out the best of Disney and previewed it for you and decided a Mickey Mouse Birthday present and tea would be the bestus present for you- of course we like it too!