A few links - Motts Millitary Museum - an interesting private local museum
Brats and Crafts - an annual, charitable endeavor from the church on the corner, St. James Lutheran Evangelical Church, over 150 years of Church'n - just like Marti thought might be nice.
The church was formed in 1847 by 9 German immigrant families in the area. A short tour of the cemetary will reveals many of the area's street names. A new fangled church was built shortly after the
War of the Rebellion and dedicated in 1872. Services in English were included by 1894
for the kids. German services dwindled away in 1942, but they have returned recently, are now held annually on the Sunday during the Church's popular Brat and Craft Festival. It takes place the first weekend of August and includes the Restoration Rag/Jazz Band (billed as "Die Burgermeister Kapele Band") on Friday night and the Columbus Maennerchor (they're 150 too - lots of 150's here in Columbus) on Sunday afternoon (just before that German Service - try not to miss it next summer.
This is where I found myself connected somehow - regarding of those stumbling home from the War of the rebellion and building a church for their kids. Austin and I have enjoyed it since then - he was 0 then in August of 1991.
HEY KIDS - ITS THE THIRD GRADE!! - Austin's in back waving n' stylin - has his hand in the air kinda bus-boy style (Remember the Busboys?) - shorts. Got'm?, Sweet! He is in Fourth Grade now participating in Focus, Target, (smarty pants) and Destination Imagination.
On to Doc - John Dawson! About the time Saint Jame's congregation started English for the kids, the guy in the top picture had his 0th birthday near Brazil, Indiana in 1896. Just to be clear I mean the guy on my right... He was born in a small house on the National Road (near Terre Haute, Indiana which was the home of his future wife, Sarah (1896-1993). His home was between the unpaved road and some railroad tracks where he and his sibs checked daily for dropped coal from the railroad cars. If it was cold enough, I'm sure they helped a few lumps to do so as they were treasured - the only heat for the home on very cold winter nights.
His father moved the family to Muncie, Indiana where he found gainful employment in the steel mills - little John accompanied him to the mill to get odd jobs breaking up the slag and running to town for buckets of beer. The boy's name was John A. Dawson - (he never like that A, so we'll let it go) - and eventually had seven grandchildren, seven great grand children, and a Biblical Multitude of "kids" between the ages of 0 and 80-something. To all the grandchildren and a bunch of the multitude, he was known as "Pop Pop" - other tags included "Doc". That's a mid 90's photo here (Gen X 90's not Gay 90's - ok, you kids in back, quiet down - be still). He was a regular guy who frequented the local grocery, hung out with friends and family at his home in Upper Arlington, Ohio, mowed his lawn (sometimes he'd let you help, but only after a couple shrugs and if you were a reasonable size boy), - the standard fare.
There we are in the picture, my Grandfather and I, at a wedding, poising. I have some four-generation photos somewhere. Sister Julie can always find that stuff - I'll try and post a couple, but on with 'Doc'. His friends called him 'Doc' because when he was a teenager in Muncie he worked in a pharmacy dispencing medicines - we regulated ourselves in those days - remember - previous jobs: slag breaking and beer bucketteer.
His first post college career was with 'Ma Bell' and you know how it goes - you graduate from Purdue, an engineer having studied that new force in the world (electricity) - you go to work for a big company who trains you all over again 'their' way (dragging cables through the sewers in Cleveland, etc. so you've done every job) - once you're 'seasoned' you go set up new exchanges (sent to Columbus 1926) and continue the cycle - THEN they squeeze you out at 69 or so in the prime of life (1965)! So John decides to embark on a career with the Better Business Bureau.
He retired again in the late eighties but still went to schools to talk to students, although more about history than business and credit. It was interesting to hear his perspective like the time he had to turn down those season tickets for the Buckeye's football games when they ran'm up to $8.50 - I mean 'hey! come on', that's like a buck a game or something. I remember kid's puzzled and somewhat deflated reactions when he seemed only mildly impressed with Lucky Lindy - kind of a bubble buster. He took time away from Purdue to enlist in the US Army but it was dificult to get over seas if you were a college student. His eldist brother Ralph didn't have that problem. Ralph suffered a long time from exposure to Mustard Gas and died in his thirties. Hard for John to bear and he was in the age group of the parents of those who met hard fates in WWII - see "Gold Star Mothers" here. So he was in the parades and he'd love to see you there for Armistice Day (Veterans Day) , Memorial Day, Independence Day, all that by-jingo-jazz. He was more experienced than some with Halley's Comet and centuries and other turns and cycles but he's still patient and kind with Me.
