The thrill of piloting over Warren

October 4, 2016

I logged my first flight instruction on May 15, 1946. My dad and his friend had partnered to purchase a tired old high time1940 Luscombe 8B. It was a silver two-place high-winged aircraft with fabric-covered wings and an aluminum fuselage. It had a little 65 horsepower Lycoming engine which could propel the little plane to nearly 100 mph. It was hangared at Vienna airport and I got to fly it.As a 10-year-old, I was too short to reach the controls or see out properly. In order to boost my position, a parachute pack was placed under me, and another was placed behind me.After receiving a ...

What do you tell national media?

September 27, 2016

It's great being a Valley native in New York City in the last few weeks.That's because all my colleagues and friends keep coming up to me and saying: "Hey, your hometown was on TV again."Ah, you just have to love presidential elections when every candidate and reporter around the globe focus on the Mahoning Valley as an example of this failed policy or that failed program, commenting on how the current campaigns will reverse that trend. Every now and again a reporter will find a better balance.Despite the noise from one woman's inflammatory remarks on race, the UK's Guardian 10-minute ...

Errant clock favored the Tigers

September 20, 2016

It was early afternoon Friday, October 25, 1957. I was a senior at Ohio University. I hopped into my tired old 1947 Lincoln and headed toward Massillon. I had to cut my afternoon classes, but I felt it would be worth it.The Washington High School's Massillon Tigers were going to meet with my alma mater's Warren G. Harding High Panthers at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger stadium. I knew it would be one great game. The Warren Panthers, under the tutelage of Coach Gene Slaughter, were number one in the state and they were up against Jim Tressel's dad, Massillon's Coach Lee Tressel.Warren ...

Reliving fall Friday nights in 1945

September 6, 2016

This Friday night, the Warren G. Harding Raiders will once again face Massillon's Washington High School Tigers. The rivalry dates back as far as I can remember. In fact, a little research shows that it goes back as far as 1932.Let's journey back to 1945. What a thrill it was back then - just as it is today - on Friday nights in the fall! School was over for the weekend. There would be no homework for a day or two. Mom and Dad and I would drive down Atlantic Street to the Warren G. Harding High Presidents' football stadium on a crisp fall evening to see the Presidents face off under the ...

Reminiscing is part of a near-perfect Warren day

August 23, 2016

How about this for experiencing a near-perfect day around Good Old Warren?It's been just a little more than two weeks now since the 4th Annual Wings-n-Wheels car, truck and airplane show at the Ernie Hall Aviation Museum and Airport on North River Road, held Aug. 7.I brought my car to show, and it served a double benefit in that I could park in a good spot on the display field, and I could show my car off and compare notes with a few other guys who had cars similar to mine. Of course, we talked the same car language and we shared information about various modifications and techniques we ...

When play period became recess

August 9, 2016

Perhaps I should preface this little epistle with the observation that not very many kids in my class at Garfield Elementary ever became varsity anythings or even became intramural anybodys when we progressed into East Junior and Harding high schools. There were a few outstanding exceptions, but for the most part, my Garfield class didn't seem to fare too well in the field of athletics. A little research appears to bear this out.It was September 1944 at Garfield here in Warren. My classmates and I were just beginning fourth grade. Things had become a bit different. The two most ...