In the 1920's, we kids enjoyed roaming through this last farm in Eastern Bay Village. It stretched all the way from Lake Road to the Nickel Plate Railroad, and from the East side of Hall Road (now Columbia) to the rear property lines of Forestview homes with the exception of a few lots sold off years before. Wolf Road was nonexistent until 1929, dividing the farm and eliminating grazing areas.

Tuttle Creek provided a water supply for the two or three cows, and kept the duck pond behind the house supplied with water backed up by a dam. My brother, Bob, Charles Flint Kline and myself built a small row boat with supplies "borrowed" from construction sites. The Tuttles were very religious. No hammering was allowed on Sundays. In the summer we camped along the creek, avoiding areas where the cows were likely to pause. I believe that one horse competed for space. Vegetation was abundant, as one might expect from "organic" fertilizer being applied.

The Tuttles had ducks and chickens. Eggs were sold for 25 cents a dozen. Every evening after milking time, brother Bob and I walked from our Parkside Drive cottage carrying a galvanized metal quart milk can with 15 cents inside so we wouldn't lose it. We would leave the empty can on the back porch at Tuttles and take home a full one. This trip was quite scary in the winter time when darkness came early. There were no street lights along Lake Road, only one dim one at Hall Road. I held onto my brother with one hand and a lantern in the other. He carried the empty milk can. Bob and I didn't really relish the taste of unpasteurized fresh milk. Mom Serb's reaction was "drink it - it's good for you". So we had no choice until several years later when we enjoyed the luxury of Telling Belle-Vernon's home delivery.

Edward and Harriet Tuttle also owned considerable Lake frontage opposite their house. It was a strawberry patch. Mr. Tuttle's elderly mother, Victoria (Clague) Tuttle, would be out in the June hot sun picking berries, garbed in her sunbonnet and long cotton dress. She often invited us to pick a few. No coaxing needed.

The most memorable people I ever know were Fred Tuttle and his wife "Grannie". Our family lived on the east side of north Parkside Drive, and the Tuttles lived in the first house on the north side of Lake Road, east of Parkside, so our back yards joined. We followed a well-beaten path in between - winter or summer. "Grandpa" Tuttle was from a family of early settlers in North Dover (Bay Village). He was a veteran of the Civil War and held brother Bob and myself spellbound with his vivid war stories. Of course, he told them over and over, and each time they were more interesting. I was about ten and Bob seven, while Mom Serb was in the living room visiting with Granny.

In the winter we did the chores. It took both of us to carry a bucket of coal from the woodshed into the house. Every so often "Grandpa" gave us each a nickel - good money in those days when it would buy a candy bar, bottle of pop or an ice cream cone.

One of the impressive war stories he told about was shaking hands with President Abraham Lincoln. Every time he met us at the door, he would extend his hand and say "shake the hand that shook the hand of Abraham Lincoln". We did know something about President Lincoln. He was responsible for a no school holiday on his birthday, February 12th. Fred's son, Ben and daughter, Flora Tuttle Renfrew, claimed that he really did meet the President at Gettysburg, being 15 or 16 years old at the time. Mr. Tuttle's name is on the wall inside the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Cleveland's Public Square.

Back in the 1920's neighborly visits were commonplace. We didn't have radios or TV's for entertainment, only wind up Victorolas (talking machines) and a few people had pianos. Granny Tuttle had one, and on summer days when the windows were open, she would play and sing, at the top[ of her lungs, Civil War songs. Two of which I remember are "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" and "Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Grounds". We knew that they must have had an argument. This was her way of letting off steam. Fred would retreat to his woodshed to meditate and their pet parrot would utter "Poor Fred, Poor Fred" every time this happened.

Grandpa Tuttle would often warn us, "When you boys grow up, you will be in a terrible war against the Japanese". Unbelievable back then. Fred's uncanny prediction came true. Bob and I both served in W.W.II.

Once upon a time in the Village of Bay there was a private school on Lake Road that provided an elementary education for grades kindergarten through high school. The school enjoyed considerable status as affluent parents paid a tuition to have their children attend - mostly from the Clifton, Lake Avenue and Clifton Park areas. Some were driven out by the family chauffeur or parents. Others rode the Lake Shore Electric and got off at stop 14, Upland Road, and walked across Lake Road to 24272 which housed the facilities, along with a small ranch type residence next door at 24300.

My first visit to the school was in the early fall of 1929 when our class was in a contest to see who could get the most subscriptions for our first Parkview School paper called the “Arc Light”. It cost $1 per year which included the cost of mailing.

Mr. Ehrbar was a slightly built gentleman, somewhat balding and wearing a hand tied black bow tie. He preferred to be addressed as “Professor Ehrbar”. There were four of us who rode in Mr. Glen Ganyard’s new Chevy and we were invited in for a tour of the school. It was just at twilight when the Professor invited us into the back yard to show us his observatory. It was a squatty igloo type round building with a small door requiring stooping to enter. We discovered that Professor Ehrbar was a devout student of astronomy. He focused the telescope on some constellations, naming them all. The roof of the dome rotated by hand by moving a lever within reach of the observer. We were invited, one by one, to sit and gaze through the telescope. It was nearly dark by then. This was quite an experience being a first for all of us, Mr. Ganyard included. We signed our names in a guest book which was to be donated to the Westen Reserve HIstorical Society. Perhaps they have it in their archives.

The Erhbar-Reed School always bought an advertisement in our Parkview year book. The school closed in the middle ‘30s depression. Many of the parents experienced financial difficulties and as a result enrolled their children in public schools.

During WWII Mabel Proudley ran a rooming house there for girls employed in war-time office work. I don’t know what happened to Professer Ehrbar’s observatory.

One of Bay's memorable landmarks is the cape cod-type brick building at the corner of Wolf and Dover Roads. Harvey Bott purchased this corner track in the late '20s from Louis Scholl who had a berry patch extending to where Heinen's stands and back to the farm house and barn overlooking Cahoon Valley. Wolf Road was paved and the bridge constructed in 1929.

Mr. Bott built a small two story gasoline station on the site, selling Sinclair gasoline and petroleum products. He was a widower and lived above the station. Harvey had the first electric gasoline pumps with a clock-faced dial which rotated from one to ten gallons. Most people bought five gallons of regular for about $1. High test cost a few cents more. A price list for the purchase consisted of a printed price card attached to the pump. Computer pumps came in the late '30s.

There were no inside service facilities - the lift was out in the open at the west side of the building. Additions were made. The first one, an enclosed service bay followed by another. This gas station was the first full service facility in Bay. Blaha's Grocery had only a glass top hand pump out front. Mr. Bott had built a small office building on the lot for Columbia Gas, who needed more space than what they had in Kutchins Drug Store across the tracks. Bay village printing now occupies the building. It is not part of the shopping center.

The late "Erie" Olchon owned the station until his retirement. Ernie worked at the station before W.W.II when he went into the service. Upon returning he again worked at the station and took over ownership. The gasoline brand changed to Hi-Speed, then Union 76, until discontinued a couple of years ago. One cannot compete with three self-service multiple pump facilities in the area.

After Ernie retired, the late Corman Landers took over the operation for several years. Union 76 then installed company personnel until the Burns family took over in 1986. Rich Burns retired and sold out to his son, Rick, who is now sole owner. The family has been in the service station and repair business since 1936 in the Cleveland area. Rick has been celebrating this anniversary by offering service specials thru March 31st.

Number please? This was the pleasant voice one heard upon picking up the telephone to make a call, nearly six decades ago.

The voice was a real person seated in front of a plug-in switchboard at the new Ohio Bell Telephone building on Center Ridge Road just east of Dover Center.

The early telephone system in Old North Dover and the Village of Bay consisted of hand-cranked telephones mounted vertically on a kitchen wall.

Telephone services came to the rural areas long before electricity. Neighbors were linked to each other on a party line with a designated response ring.

A short, quick rotation of the crank would create one ring on the line and would be answered by whomever had it assigned.

Two, three or four parties were on the line. To get the central operator took a vigorous cranking. This was the way of placing a long distance or emergency call, such as: “My barn is on fire,” or “The cattle have escaped.”

The construction of the new Westlake Telephone building in about 1920 modernized the local telephone service. Several operators were on duty during the day and at least two all night.

The crank phones became a thing of the past. The new phone sets were vertical with the mouthpiece on top and the receiver hanging from a hook on the side of the pedestal, hence the expression “the phone is off the hook,” when a caller couldn’t get through.

This new location was called the Westlake Telephone Exchange. Operators would also provide time of day, information and other banter if time permitted and the supervisor lady was out of sight.

“Cradle phones” became popular. The one-piece receiver could be tucked into one’s shoulder, providing the muscular and bone structure could support a no-hands use while washing the dishes or preparing a meal.

An early yearbook of Dover High School lists telephone numbers such as C.G. Boone Meat Market, Westlake 54-W; Frank Sauer Willys Knight Auto Sales, Westlake 132 (must be a private line). Clifford Pease, Funeral Director was Westlake 226.

This historic building still stands. But we have now entered the days of cell phones, cordless phones, and many other technological communications advances.

The "For Sale" sign placed in Sell's window brought back memories of the late 1920s when the building was built as Bay's first (and last) new car Chrysler-Plymouth agency and service garage. This was about 20 years before Ed and Vi Sell came to Bay and established their suburban venture lasting almost 50 years in what was then "downtown" Bay Village.

Harvey A. Bott had retired from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and lived with his family on Forestview Drive. He saw this as a good opportunity for a dealership with garage service facilities. Furthermore, the president of Chrysler Corp. was Walter P. Chrysler who put together a group of investors who took over the Maxwell Automobile Company. I drove a Maxwell touring during my senior year. At that time, he was establishing dealerships.

Mr. Bott got in on the ground floor when Chryslers and Plymouths were first introduced. According to his daughter, Margaret, her father sold the first Plymouth in Cuyahoga County. The "grand opening" was a gala occasion. Corn meal was sprinkled on the new concrete floor in the garage area to make it slippery. A three piece musical group provided dance music and refreshments were served. This was in the summertime and drew a large crowd. Our entire family was there; Mom, Pop and little brother Bob. I was a seventh-grader at Parkview which is now the Middle School. Pop was intrigued with the new cars in the showroom. Too bad we couldn't afford one. The Chrysler cost about $800 and the Plymouth $500 - a lot of money in those days.

The business flourished for only a few years until the depression. Ralph Bott, the eldest of the three Bott boys, ran the service and auto body and repair shop and then was employed by the Village of Bay as a fireman and mechanic.

It was just coincidental that Margaret (Bott) Wierts-Parrinello sent me a photo of the building with two hand operated gas pumps out front. I plan to use it in a future article about previous occupants of the building ending with Sells.

Back-to-school days in Bay Village always happened the day after Labor Day so that in some years the vacation time was longer or shorter than others. Whoever thought of going to school in August? The farm kids were needed to help out at home.

Sometime ago, I wrote about attending the “Little Red Schoolhouse” on Lake Road for one and a half years and then to the new Parkview School (now Middle School) from which I graduated many years ago.

I seem to very vividly recall going into third grade. Mom didn’t walk me across Lake Road from North Parkside Drive and brother Bob was of kindergarten age with none to attend. That came years later. So I crossed Lake Road and headed for Lake Shore Electric are stop 20-1/2. A ‘toot-toot’ sound came from the distance, probably at the Forestview stop. I quicken my pace so as not to miss the trolley. The ride was free on the first morning of school. The School Board arranged this as our monthly ticket books were issued in class that same day. Enough pink tickets were to last a month, going to school and back. If one forgot the ticket book, the ride cost 5 cents and conducters very rarely collected, but requested an extra ticket on the next ride.

The school superintendent (and principal) Mrs. Clarence Wilfong, was at the door to welcome us and teachers would direct us to our rooms which were all on one floor. The students of the seventh grade on up were on the second floor. A third floor was built in 1925.

We put our belongings in the cloakroom and took our assigned seats. Miss Clara Jones was our teacher. She had taught 3rd and 4th grades at the Red Brick (school), so she was no stranger. She remained at Parkview until 1927 and was then transferred to the new Forestview School. We felt quite “grown up” as we no longer sang the songs of first and second graders such as “Good Morning Dear Teacher” and “Have You Seen Polly’s Bonnet - It is Blue”.

The third grade went quite well and we concentrated on the “3-Rs”. Every morning upon leaving home, Mom would ask: Did you wash behind your ears?” Her parting words were. . .” and don’t pick your nose in class!”

Once upon a time, Bay Village had four grocery stores to serve the needs of the community. Now, they could all fit in a corner of our present supermarkets. They were located in the far east, central and far western population centers.

One was on the west side of Clague Road between Wolf and East Oakland Roads where quite a few homes were concentrated after World War I. The Lakeshore Electric Railway station was nearby as well as the Dover Bay nine hole golf course and summer homes north of the Club House. The store seemed far away from our home on Parkside Drive. It burned down in the late 1920s.

The folks in the west end were served by a general store which became an Atlantic and Pacific (A&P) neighborhood chain store. It was in a good location as old Foote Road east of Bassett and the surrounding area was quite built up. The building at 330 Bassett Road, was remodeled and well equipped. It now houses Martins Deli.

Downtown Bay Village had two grocery stores in the block on the east side of Dover Center Road between East Oviatt and the railroad. The first one was established by the William Blaha family in the building now occupied by Rehorst Cleaners. It was rented from R.E. Miller for many years. Mr. Blaha owned two adjacent vacant lots opposite West Oviatt Road. He built a new modern store on one of them with family quarters above. This was a typical operation of the times, living in the same building either above or behind the business operation. The vacated store was rented by A.B. Sylvester who established another grocery store in competition.

The "great depression" came along and the grocery closed. Sylvesters continued and the last to operate the store were the Smith twins, Clyde and his brother, who closed the store when Krogers moved into the new Dover Junction Shopping Center across the road.

The leaves seem to be falling all of a sudden and reminds me of years ago when such a thing as leaf collection was unheard of. Bay’s rubbish was collected once a month and garbage every week in a Ford Model “A” open body dump truck. In the summertime a horde of flies would herald its arrival.

The fall brought a cloud hanging over the community. It wasn’t a noxious black smoke but a clean white billowing one which hung close to the ground. People were out in a carnival spirit helping each other burn their leaves which were raked into small (or large) piles in the yards. Yes, there were rules in effect; such as making sure that the wind was from a safe direction and burning was restricted to 30 feet from a building. Some garages were slightly discolored.

Leaves were forbidden to be raked into a road area. Kids could be injured while playing in the piles. Cars were known to catch fire when parked over dry leaves ignited by hot exhaust. I recall that yard burning did produce some astonishing results. If a leaf fire continued to burn through the ashes, it was caused to a leaky gas line. The fire had to be extinguished with water and the gas company notified. There were probably many cubic feet of gas that escaped at the company’s expense as the meters locations were beyond the leak.

Back in those days there were no undesirable odors from across the tracks. This came later with “progress” in joint community ventures to centralize leaf disposal. I miss the days when, in a few minutes, a pile of leaves could be burned releasing a pleasant aromatic white smoke into the atmosphere before the E.P.A.

Happy Birthday, Bay League of Women Voters. I was in the audience when the League’s first candidates night was held in the Bay Community House. It was October 1948 for state and county office elections. The first heavy snowfall kept the attendance down. Few candidates showed up. I recall one in particular in attendance. His name was Anthony Celebreze. State Senator Anthony Calabreeze was to be the main attraction. He couldn’t make it but Representative Anthony Celebreze braved the elements and found his way to the meeting.

I remember his opening line which went, “I’m Tony Celebreze, and I know that many of you are probably disappointed with the absence of State Senator Calabreeze.” Here was a quiet, humble man who wasn’t promoting his own candidacy, but to cover for a friend. This very same man, later became Mayor of Cleveland. He never finished his term. President Kennedy called upon him to join his cabinet as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, followed by a judicial appointment. Mr. Celebreze is alive and well residing in a Western suburb.

I ran for the City Council and was elected after the Leagues first Bay Village Candidates night in 1949.

How well do I remember the first anniversary of the League of Women Voters in 1949? It was candidates night in Bay’s municipal election. This town hall meeting was something new and drew a capacity crowd at the Community House. Mayor Dr. Edward C. Knoll didn’t run for re-election. He was too busy with his dental practice and at the same time being involved in his new shopping center project (Bay Square).

Spencer Houk was a member of Council up for re-election. I can’t recall the names of the others.

Wilbur Benbow was also on the council and running unopposed for mayor. He had his own slate of council candidates. The meeting went smoothly until Mr. Benbow finished his speech as follows, “In as much as I will be your next Mayor, I would appreciate it if my preferred council candidates were elected (the slate).”

This statement went over like a lead balloon! League members were aghast! Within a short time, an independent committee formed to draft Spen Houk for a write-in candidate. The rest is history, probably never to be repeated. Spen Houk was elected. His name was easy to remember as he operated a meat market in the new center. The late Harley McNeal was the only “slate member” elected. I ran independently and received the highest vote of all the council candidates.

In searching my memory for an historical and timely writing, my brain computer stopped on the year 1949 as a significant date.

This was the beginning of a very important event in Bay village. The new St. Barnabas Episcopal Church formed a committee to provide a detailed Bay Village Directory. Earlier directories were published by the city and school projects.

The little white book is circulated to Bay Village residents only; therefore it is not a reference for the many telemarketers (those who call at mealtime, etc.). Because of its small size, Bay Village residents, professional people and business listings are easy to find without leafing through the thicker and heavier books.

Recently the directory committee has mailed cards to every residence address in Bay for those to be in the new 1999-2000 directory. It's too bad that there are many addresses with no names. Many residents are proud to be listed in the "Who's Who" publication. It is appreciated especially by school students, senior citizens and news reporters. City Hall departments all have copies. The police use it as a reference in case of emergencies.

The St. Barnabas volunteers work many hours to finalize the directory. It is a public service and there is no charge to be listed in alphabetical and street sections.

If you want to be sure to be listed, mail back the card or call the church at 440-871-6200 for further information.

The Serbs are listed in the 1949 publication.

It is with great sadness we acknowledge the passing of long-time Bay League member and community activist, George Serb.

George's legacy is multifold. He was a true gentleman, a life-long Bay resident whose historical essays helped us visit times past. He served our country in the military as a pilot and flight instructor in World War II, as an elected Bay Councilman for 16 years, and as an active member of many civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters, where he served as Director.

When the Bay League celebrated its 50th anniversary, George wrote an article for us. We were surprised to learn that he, himself, was a candidate at the first League-sponsored local candidates night in 1949.